


Never land in Neverland

by One_Lone_Witch



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 28,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/One_Lone_Witch/pseuds/One_Lone_Witch
Summary: Angel is a girl who always helps out her friends. so when Henry, the son of one of her best friends Emma, gets kidnapped she goes on an adventure with Emma, her parents Snow white and Prince Charming, Henry's adoptive mother Regina, Rumplestiltskin and Captain Hook to save Henry. They set out to go to Neverland, the land where the notorious Peter Pan lives and also the place where Henry is kept. Can Angel help her friends save Henry while holding on to her secrets?(This is an alternative to the first part of the third season)
Relationships: Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

She still remembers it as if it was just yesterday, even though it had been a little over a year now since the curse had been enacted.  
She was just flying a woman from Dublin to Neverland, she had done so many times before. Oh, how she loved going to Neverland. Every time she flew towards that star she felt her body change, becoming more cartoon-ish. It was always the highlight of her day.  
She still hasn't figured out what had been different that day, maybe she flew the wrong way or towards the wrong star, but no, she would have known if she did that. All she knows is that when she and that woman flew towards the star she didn't feel her body change and neither did the woman and when she landed in Neverland it wasn't the Neverland she was used to. It looked too realistic, too 'earthly'.  
"Where are we?" she asked aloud.  
"Why don't you start with telling me who you are and then maybe I'll tell you," she heard someone say from behind her.  
She turned around and saw a 17-year old boy stare back at her.  
"I'm Angel and I'm trying to get this lady to Neverland. Now, can you tell me where we are? And who are you, by the way?" she answered.  
"Where are my manners, I am Peter, Peter Pan. And why are you bringing a person to Neverland when you don't even know what it looks like?"  
Angel looked around once more, thought about what the boy had just said, and answered, "It must have been my mistake. I probably took a wrong turn somewhere and brought us to the wrong dimension. So if you don't mind we've got another dimension to go to."  
"What if I do mind?"  
"Well then that's your problem. We're going," Angel said, getting more and more annoyed.  
"I think you should stay a little longer," Peter said with a cocky smile and right after he said that, Angel's wings started to feel heavier and heavier, almost as if they were made out of lead. She even had to change back to her human form only to protect her legs from giving out because of all the extra weight.  
"What are you doing?" she asked, nearly losing control of her temper.  
"Just like I said, you should stay a little longer," Peter said matter-of-factly.  
"And I said we were leaving," Angel said, getting more and more fed up.  
While they were fighting, neither of them paid any attention to the woman that was still standing right between them. "Let's go, now," she said in a low and harsh voice.  
"I'd love to but first this guy has to give us permission, apparently," Angel answered sarcastically, focusing her attention on the woman.  
"Let's go now, or else," was all the woman said.  
Angel looked at Peter again, "Come on, say we can go. I'm getting bad vibes from her and that can't mean anything good."  
She could see that she was only amusing him which made her really mad. "Okay, you know what-"  
She didn't even have time to finish her sentence, because the woman had started talking again, louder this time, "It's your fault we’re stranded here," she started screaming at Angel, "and you," pointing her finger at Peter, "should know better than to mess with a witch." By then both teens were watching the woman with a mixture of fear and excitement on their faces.  
"You will both pay for wasting my time," the woman went on and with a swing of her hand, she threw Angel against Peter, making them both fall. "You will be bound to each other forever,” she said while lightning shot through the sky almost hitting Angel and Peter. "Only if one of you is to die will this curse end," After having said this, the witch went up in smoke and the only thing showing that the witch had been there being her footsteps in the sand.  
"What was that about?" Angel asked, standing up slowly as if scared that the woman could come back any minute.  
"Don't worry, girl, the witch is gone," Peter said.  
Angel turned around fast, "How'd you know I was thinking of her? I didn't even say anything."  
"You didn't?"  
"I think I'd remember if I did," she said turning around again. She started walking towards where she saw the woman last. When she's almost there she could feel something sharp scratch her right arm. "Ow!" She turned around while clutching her arm to where Peter was standing clutching his arm at the very same spot she was. "What are you doing?"  
"You don't need to know."  
"I really think I do."  
"Well if you want to know I wanted to see what happened if I threw a knife at you, but it suddenly changed course from straight at you to cutting your arm, and as soon as it did I felt the pain instead of you."  
"If you think I didn't feel that you are crazy and why would you want to throw a knife at me?"  
"If what the witch said is true then this curse can only be broken if one of us dies, so I thought,"  
"You thought you could easily kill me, didn't you?"  
"Actually I did."  
She closed her eyes. "Sure you did and I'm guessing-"  
"Angel," She hears suddenly.  
"Angel, answer me,"  
"Angel!"  
"What's wrong?" she says, opening her eyes again. She's back on Hook's ship.  
"Before you dozed off we were asking how you knew Neverland,” a blonde woman says annoyed.  
"I'm sorry Emma, I was just thinking. And to answer your question I've been to Neverland a few times, it's a beautiful island where an awful guy lives. Why do you want to know?"  
"Because Henry is being held in Neverland and we're going there to rescue him."


	2. Chapter 2

Here she is, an eighteen-year-old fairy on her way to save a boy with Snow White, Prince Charming, their daughter Emma, the Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin, and Captain Hook. If she wouldn't have been there herself she would have thought it was some kind of sick joke. The wind is playing with her blonde/brown hair while she paces up and down the deck of Hook's ship.   
"Are you absolutely positive he's in Neverland?" she asks, trying and failing not to sound too nervous.  
"Yes Angel, just like I said earlier, Henry's taken to Neverland."  
"Alright then, if he's there, what are we still doing here? Neverland is the worst place I've ever been. And that really means something. So we'd better get him out of there as soon as possible."  
"Hook," Emma says, looking at the pirate. "Take us to Neverland."  
*********   
Not long after, a portal opens up in the middle of a great sea, while on the horizon a little island lies waiting.  
"Welcome to Neverland," Hook says, pointing at the island with his left arm, at the end of which sat a hook because of an 'accident' where Rumplestiltskin cut off his hand.  
"Let's get Henry back," Emma says, looking like she's ready to hit someone.  
"You're not going to dearie, I am." Rumple climbs onto the deck after having spent most of the trip below decks. He's dressed in the kind of leather clothes he used to wear back in the enchanted forest, where he was known as the Dark One.  
"What a great use of our time, a wardrobe change," Hook says sarcastically.  
"Why would you say that?" Emma asks Rumple, ignoring the pirate’s comment.  
"Because Neverland is a land where imagination runs free, and yours just doesn't. No matter what has happened the past years you're still not believing in anything other than what you can see. And in Neverland that just isn't enough. So I will be the one to get Henry back." And with that Rumplestiltskin vanishes.  
Just then the ship starts shaking.  
"What's out there?!" Emma yells.   
"Some kind of animal?" Charming, also known as David, asks.  
"Something way worse," Hook answers while struggling to keep the ship under control.  
"Mermaids," Angel finishes, looking down into the water.  
The others join her in doing so and indeed see several mermaids banging their tails on the ship.  
"The cannon," Hook yells. David runs toward the cannon and starts shooting at the mermaids.  
"Emma," Snow calls. "Let's go fishing." They grab a net and throw it in the water. Not long after that, she yells, "We got one."  
This isn't going fast enough, Angel thinks to herself. "Regina, fireballs!" She calls to the Evil Queen while she conjures up a fireball in the palm of her hand and starts throwing it at the mermaids. Not soon after Regina joins in and soon all the mermaids are gone except the one that's still stuck in the net. With a flick of her wrist, Regina takes the mermaid out of the water and sets her onto the deck.  
"Get that thing off of my ship," Hook yells.  
"No, now we have a hostage. They tried to kill us and now we can find out why," Regina answers.  
"How? By hurting her? By making her tell us?" Snow asks Regina.  
While they argue no one watches the mermaid as she picks up a shell and blows on it.   
"That was a warning," the mermaid says. "Let me go or die."


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean by that?" Angel asks, shocked.

"What do you think,  _ fairy _ ?" the mermaid sneers.

Ripping the shell out of the mermaid’s hand, David asks, "What is this? What did you do?"

"Let me go and I'll tell you."

"Tell us or I'll make you tell us," Regina says.

"You can't make her tell us, Regina," Snow shouts to be heard above the storm that is rapidly coming their way.

"Either way you can't trust a mermaid’s word," Hook butts in.

"Maybe if we set her free. Maybe she will help us then."

"Or maybe she'd just get her friends and kill us," Regina says.

"I don't need my friends to kill you, you will kill yourselves."

"Maybe I can talk to her," Angel tries. "Fairies and mermaids used to get along very well, so maybe..."

"Don't get your hopes up, fairy, I won't listen to a word you've got to say. Your kind doesn't have control over us anymore. Now let me go."

Lightning flashes through the sky. Gripping a sword David says, "Stop the storm then we'll let you go."

The mermaid pretends to think about this. "Um, no."

Walking around the mermaid, David stops right behind her with his sword ready to slit her throat. But looking into Snow's eyes, he releases her and says, "We're not barbarians."

"But we  _ will _ be dead if we don't do something," Regina answers, ready to put a spell on the mermaid.

"We're not killers!" Snow shouts.

"Sure you are. You will be the ones to blame for your own deaths," the mermaid answers.

Right then the boat starts rocking vividly.

"Keep your boat under control, pirate," David yells.

"I'm trying. Would you like to sail through this storm instead, mate?" Hook answers, clearly annoyed.

Another lightning flash crashes through the sky only missing the ship by an inch.

"Now may I kill her?" Regina asks.

"No!" Emma, Snow, Charming, and Angel scream back.

"The queen is right, it's the only way," Hook yells.

"We need to slow down and think this through," Emma yells, but it's already too late. Regina waves her hand and the mermaid turns to wood.

"There, that will stop the storm. You're all welcome," Regina says, but the storm doesn't go away if anything, it only starts to rain more.

"What have you  _ done _ ," Snow yells. "You've only made it worse."

"You're blaming me for this?!" Regina asks.

"If you hadn't turned that mermaid into wood, then maybe we would have been able to make some kind of deal. So undo your spell!"

"So what, so you're gonna win her over with sweet talk!" Regina yells back.

"At least we can try!"

They start bickering while the storm starts getting worse and worse. They get more and more fed up until Snow hits Regina in the face, at the same time a lightning flash hits the deck.

"Is that all you've got?" Regina asks, panting.

"Not even close."

They start fighting. David starts to run towards them only to be stopped by Hook.

"Let the slags go, I need you at the mast," Hook says, letting go of the steering wheel so Emma has to grab it.

"Don't you dare call my wife a slag," David says, lashing out at the pirate. In a matter of minutes, they are fighting too.

"Stop it! Stop it, you guys," Emma screams. trying to be heard over the roaring storm.

"Emma, what should we do now?" Angel asks, nearly losing control of the ropes holding the mainsail in place.

Emma looks around, seeing the lightning flash more and more while her friends fight harder and harder.  _ 'I think I know'  _ she realizes. "Stop fighting you guys. We're causing it, we're causing the storm! So stop fighting." But no one listens. "Angel, come here and take the wheel." 

Angel does what she's told and when she reaches the wheel, Emma runs away to the side of the ship, climbing on the rail.

"What are you doing?!" Angel calls after her.

"Don't worry I have a plan," Emma tells her. After having said that she turns her attention to the others who are still fighting, "Hey. You all need to listen to me, you need to stop fighting or we'll all die!" But still, no one listens. She turns around to face the ocean instead.  _ 'If they won't listen to me then maybe this will make them see.' _

Without thinking about it any further she jumps into the ocean. "Emma!" Snow and David scream as they run towards where their daughter just jumped into the sea. Not soon after everyone except Angel, who still struggles with the steering wheel, stands looking into the ocean trying to find Emma. Just then a pulley falls off a broken piece of rope into the sea. 

"Watch out you guys," Angel screams. Not long after Angel feels a stinging pain at the back of her head.  _ 'Someone got hit,' _ she thinks. Looking from one person to the next, she doesn't see anyone grab their head.  _ 'Emma.' _

From the corner of her eye, she sees David climb onto the rail. "Stop you'll drown," Hook says.

"But if we don't do something Emma will drown," David argues.

"Here, this will help," Hook says as he picks up some rope. "Tie it around you."

When David has tied the rope around his waist he steps up on the rail again and dives. For what seems like forever there is no sound except for the rain falling on the deck and the waves crashing against the ship. 

"There they are! Pull," Hook shouts and as one Snow, Regina and Hook start pulling the rope. Not soon after David and Emma are back on board. "Is she alright?" Angel asks straight away.

"I don't know," Snow answers. "Emma? Emma!" 

Just then Emma starts coughing up water, she looks up to the sky and says, "I told you so." 

Now the rest look too and they see that the sky begins to clear up again and not far from where they are they see the island again. 

Neverland.


	4. Chapter 4

"You guys, we're almost there," Angel says, pointing at Neverland.

Hook walks up to her, taking over the wheel once again. "I'm going to sail t'wards mermaid lagoon," he says. "From there we can go further on land."

"Is it secluded?" Emma asks.

"I don't think it matters, Emma," Angel answers. "We lost the element of surprise the moment the mermaids attacked. And by the way, Peter knows everything that happens on this island,  **his** island. So it doesn't really matter." Walking to the front of the ship, Angel trips when her heel gets stuck between two floorboards.  _ 'That's right I still need to change,'  _ Angel thinks to herself while snapping her fingers. Where she once wore a red cocktail dress with matching high heels, she now wears shorts, a black tank top and sneakers. Now clearly visible strapped around her legs are two throwing daggers and on her back hangs a long sword. Her hair once a high ponytail has changed into two braids coming together on her lower back. ' _ Much better.' _

"Angel, can I talk to you for a moment?" Emma asks behind her.

"Sure, what do you wanna talk about?"

"How come you've been here before and why?"

"Well actually," Angel starts, but then a horrible thought occurs. ' _What_ _if she doesn't believe me? And what if she does? She'll hate me or worse lose trust in me. I mean who trusts a person who is linked to the guy who kidnapped their son. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What should I do, I can't just lie can I...'_

"Earth to Angel, hello."

"What?" Angel asks, mentally shaking herself. 

"You did it again."

"What did I do?"

"You dozed off, like there's something you don't want anyone to know."

"It's not what you think Emma," Angel says, producing a little smile. "It's just.. It's just that here in Neverland I just feel so.. so powerless. It's a feeling I don't enjoy much and you know that. I feel like every time I come here I've lost all control. All because of that stupid Peter Pan." ' _ At least that's part of the truth. _ ' Angel thinks. She can see Emma believes her so she continues. "As for why I came here well, the first time I came here someone wanted, or well, asked me to bring her here so I did. And that's when I first saw the Boys. The Lost Boys. I found myself coming back often to check on them, finding that some even liked it, but always when Peter was away."

"Were you afraid he'd catch you?" Emma asks.

"No," Angel says before she can stop herself. "I mean, I was more afraid of what he would do to the Lost Boys if he found out."

"When is the last time you came here?"

"I don't know," Angel says. 

"You sure?" Emma says, looking at her like she doesn't believe it.

Angel turns around so Emma can't see her face when she says, "I just.. I just feel like I let them down somehow, leaving them with a monster dressed like a boy. I once made a promise that I'd get them all out of here, but they're all still here." Tears well up in her eyes but she forces them back. "Can we.. Can we just stop talking about it?"

Seeing that Angel doesn't want to talk anymore Emma squeezes her shoulder and leaves. Lost in her own thoughts Angel stares into the water. The Boys, how she loves them. She can still remember the day she first met them.

******************************

"Boys, come meet our guest," Peter yelled as he walked Angel to the heart of his camp. The curse had just been enacted and after a long discussion Angel had decided to come with Peter to his camp. Now as they stood next to a campfire from out of nowhere all around them boys seemed to appear. These boys, a dozen or so in total, were unlike anything she could have imagined. Some were skinny and looked so fragile, while others were broad shouldered and looked like they owned the place. Some were just kids while others looked just as old as Peter and her. One boy stood out, his blond hair all messed up, his dark eyes looking like they could look right into her very soul. He stood apart from the others, watching her, judging her. "Who is she, Pan?" he asked. "Why did you bring her here?"

"Easy Felix. Neither of those things matter. What matters is how long she will stay."

"No one said anything about staying and I don't intend on doing so," Angel said, opening her mouth for the first time since entering the camp. "You can't make me stay."

Everyone became very quiet, even the younger boys stopped whispering to stare at the strange girl who just talked to Peter as an equal.

"What?" Angel said, eyeing all the boys. She turned to Peter. "I guess you guys have other rules here in Neverland. Guess I need to know those if this curse is really as powerful as that witch said. But know this, I won’t ever bow down to you if that is what you think is going to happen. Got it?"

Everyone turned their attention to Peter, wanting to know what he'd say. "Of course you would never bow down to me, you're a girl." A few boys chuckled, but stopped when Angel looked their way, annoyance written all over her face. "But what you will do is whatever I tell you to," Peter continued.

"I don't take orders."

"Well get used to it, girl, because you will if you don't want to end up with an arrow in your back."

"Yeah, about that. You already want me dead to end the curse so that's just another empty threat to me."

"We'll see about that."

"Yes, we will but it'll be another time, because I've got to go." And with that Angel changed again into fairy form and flew away leaving a dozen or so boys behind her staring in awe, while one pissed off boy called Peter Pan planned his first of many traps to get rid of the curse and Angel.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm going to leave the ship here, so we must go further on land," Hook announces.

"Can't we travel further land inward with the ship?" Regina asks. "I can just fix the Jolly Roger with magic."

"It's not like we still have the element of surprise on our side," Angel answers. "Even if Peter Pan hadn't known we were in Neverland before the mermaid attack, he knows now. I'm sure of it. And by the way, we have to get to land if we want to find Peter's camp, because he probably keeps Henry there."

"All right then. Let's go." Hook lowers a dinghy into the water while David lowers the anchor and not long after everyone sits in the slightly crowded rowboat and they start heading for the shore. 

"Where do we find Pan's camp?" Regina asks.

"You don't," Angel says. "Peter constantly moves his camp. You can't find it, only if he wants you to. And I don't really think he wants us to find it, I mean with the save Henry stuff and all."

"We should be able to find it," Hook interrupts. "We just need the right spot to observe the island and I happen to know where it is. I can take you there."

At last, they arrive at the shore. 

"Why would we follow you?" David asks.

"Not again, you guys," Angel groans, truly done with all the bickering and distrust.

"Gold was right," Emma says, referring to Rumplestiltskin. "This land is one of belief and we have been too busy lashing out at each other to be believers. It's time we all started to believe and work together."

"You mean we have to become friends?" Regina asks.

"No, of course not. There's too much history for that to happen so fast. But we have to work together to have even a chance to succeed." Emma answers.

"You want us to work together? With  _ them _ ?" David asks, eyeing Regina and Hook.

"David," Angel starts. "We have to. Emma is right. We need everyone if we want to succeed."

"It's time we started believing in each other," Emma says. "If we want to succeed we have to be exactly who we are, a hero, a villain, a pirate, a fairy. We will need all the skills we have if we want to pull this off."

"Talking about skills, what's yours?" Regina asks.

"I'm Henry's mother and from now on I'm also your leader, so help me or get lost," Emma says, walking away. One by one everyone follows. 

"There is a ridge on the east side of the jungle where we should be able to see Pan's camp from," Hook says.

"You sure?" Angel asks. "As far as I know-"

"How long have you been in Neverland?" Hook asks, interrupting her.

"I think about a year on and off, why?"

"I've been here for decades, So I think I know this island a little better than you, lass."

"If you say so," Angel mumbles.

"Lead the way," Emma says.

They start walking through the jungle with David up front followed by Hook, Regina, Angel, Emma and Snow. "We're almost there," Hook says after a while.

"I could have just poofed us up," Regina says.

"Do you even know where in the jungle we are, Regina?" Angel asks. "You just have to be a little off and we would be dead. This is no ordinary jungle, remember? This is Neverland. Almost everything is deadly if not everything." Just then they hear Hook somewhere in front of them. Angel runs towards him. "What's wrong?" she asks, sensing the tension between the pirate and prince, who still has his sword in his hand.

"I'm trying to warn this guy to not cut the Dreamshade, but-"

" _ What _ ?! Are you crazy, David? Do you have a death wish? Don't ever cut Dreamshade, even a drop of its poison is enough to kill you." Hearing this, David slowly lowers his sword. 

"Let's go this way around it," Hook says, pointing to the right.

"Thank you, but we'll go this way," David answers, walking to the left. Hook looks at Angel, but she just shrugs and follows David. They walk around the bush and turn left.

"We made it," David calls out. Everyone gathers on the ridge staring out at the vast jungle below them.

"Pan's camp should be, right about..."

"Where, Hook? All there is to see here is the Dark Jungle, nothing more, nothing less. Or maybe you see something we don't see? I tried to tell you, there's no way to find Peter from here," Angel says, turning to Hook. 

"The jungle has somewhat grown since I've been here last," Hook answers.

"So this was all for nothing?"Regina asks.

"Maybe so, but Hook has brought us to a perfect spot to start combing the jungle," David answers.

"'Fraid not. The Dark Jungle is not a place you'd want to be. I suggest we make up camp for tonight and start walking around it tomorrow," Hook tells the others.

"How can you think of sleep when my son is out there?" Regina snaps, glaring daggers at the man.

"If you want to live long enough to save the boy, then we must gather our strength," Hook answers. Reluctantly everyone agrees.

_ 'I need to talk to Peter,' _ Angel thinks.  _ 'Maybe I can find a way to solve this before something bad happens.'  _ "You guys find a place to set up camp, there is something I have to do," she tells the others.

"What?" Emma asks.

"Just trust me, please. I won't be long," she answers, looking from one to the other.

"All right but if you're not back in twenty minutes I'm coming for you," Emma says.

"Deal." Everyone leaves and when Angel is sure she's alone she changes into fairy form and flies away.


	6. Chapter 6

Flying towards the heart of the island, Angel can't help thinking about the first time she met Peter in  _ their _ tree.

************

It had been a whole month since she had been to Neverland last. After the Lost Boys almost killed her, she vowed that she'd never set foot in Neverland again even if it meant dying. She was slowly starting to regret that decision because she'd been feeling so weak. Her magic was useless, none of her muscles could move without hurting and she had a major headache. The only good thing was that her best friends didn't know she was home yet or else she would be in even bigger trouble. They said it was a bad idea to bring people to other realms to begin with, and clearly they were right. But she wasn't going to tell them that, not yet.

Suddenly her window burst open. Somewhere in the back of her mind, an alarm bell went off;  _ 'Since when do I have a window in my room?' _ . With a lot of effort, she turned her head to the wall where a window had mysteriously appeared. Through it appeared something black as night, Pan's Shadow.  _ "You are being called back to the island," _ it said in that low, dark voice it always spoke with.

"No," Angel tried to scream, but all that came out of her mouth was a whimper.  _ 'I'm way too tired for this,' _ she thought to herself. She tried to fight it off when the shadow picked her off of her bed, but stopped quickly when pain flashed through her whole body. She closed her eyes and focused on the pain.

_ "We're almost there." _

Angel opened her eyes to see trees all around her.  _ 'I must have fallen asleep,' _ she thought.

They landed in the middle of Pan's camp and the moment they did Lost Boys came from everywhere to see what was happening. Not paying any attention to the Boys, the Shadow floated towards the biggest tent in the camp and went in. Inside were Peter and Felix. Peter lay on his bed seemingly in pain while Felix stood near the door watching him. As soon as the Shadow got inside with Angel in his arms, something strange happened. Angel felt her pain go away. She could move without feeling the flashes of pain she had been feeling the last few weeks, her headache lessened and she even felt some of her strength returning. True, it wasn't like she immediately felt reborn or anything, but she knew that her body was healing. Unfortunately, so was his. Where Peter was first shaking feverishly, he now lay perfectly still. His skin, which was first almost translucent, was now getting its color back and, to Angel at least, it looked like he was starting to glow from the inside as if everything that was hurt inside also started to heal. The Shadow lay her down next to Peter before leaving the tent with Felix. 

Together Peter and Angel lay in silence for the first few hours before Angel even dared to speak, "This can't happen again."

"What?"

"This feeling of being so weak, of course. It's not good for either of us. We have to find a way for both of us to live with this curse."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I suggest we pick a spot where we meet if we feel the need to, well, recharge."

"I bet you already have a place in mind, haven't you?"

"Because you insist," Angel said, sitting up slowly. "I think I saw a tree which would be perfect."

"Sure it is," Peter said, sitting up too. "Where is this tree you like so much?"

"If you must know, it's near the heart of the island. I saw it on my way here. It's the tallest tree on the island and I can feel the magic inside. It would be the perfect place."

"Well, if you think it's so perfect we ought to check it out, don't we?" Peter said, standing up. He extended his hand to help Angel stand up and not soon after they were walking through the jungle followed by a group of Lost Boys.

"You don't trust me enough to walk with me on your own?" Angel asked acting like Peter hurt her feelings.

"Of course I do, my Boys just don't," he answered. He waved a hand and one by one, all boys walked away until only Felix was left.

"Don't you have somewhere to be, honey?" Angel asked Felix. He looked at Peter, who nodded, and with one more glare at Angel, he turned around and left. 

"Better?" Peter asked.

"Much better. You know, just because you tried to kill me doesn't mean I want to return the favor," Angel said. "I know  _ some _ are still watching, but I hadn't expected it any other way. Now let's go check out that tree!" she called, starting to run not waiting to see if Peter followed her. 

Not soon after, they stood under the tree looking up. "Race you to the top?" Angel asked.

"Game on," Peter answered, grinning. As fast as she could, Angel pictured the top of the tree and what it had looked like from the sky, she closed her eyes and when she opened them she stood on a kind of platform made out of all kinds of leaves and branches pressed together. As she turned around Peter appeared in front of her.

"Don't you think this is a good place to meet?" Angel asked.

"If you say so," Peter answered. 

"What's the matter?" Angel asked, sitting down.

"Why don't we just meet in my camp?" Peter said, sitting down next to her.

Laughing, Angel answered, "because I don't want your Boys to try and use me for target practice again." This made Peter laugh too and for that moment he didn't seem so bad. Too soon they stopped laughing.

"If you really want this, then this will be our meeting spot," Peter said, standing up. "But don't think that we're friends now or anything like that, because we're not." And with that, he was gone. 

' _ Who are you, Peter Pan?' _ Angel thought, knowing he could hear her.  _ 'Who are you and what is it you really want?' _ She hadn't expected a response but what she heard chilled her to the bone.  _ 'I just want to be rid of you  _ **_foreve_ ** r _.' _


	7. Chapter 7

After some time flying, Angel reaches the tree.

"Finally," she says.

She sits down on the edge of the platform making up the top of the tree and without another thought, she starts singing,    
_ "Are you, are you _ _   
_ _ Coming to the tree _ _   
_ _ They strung up a man _ _   
_ _ They say who murdered three _ _   
_ _ Strange things have happened here _ _   
_ _ No stranger would it be _ _   
_ _ If we met, at midnight in the hanging tree _ _   
_ __ Are you,"

"Nice song," she hears someone say behind her.

"You're late," she says without turning around. "You usually appear within one verse. What kept you?"

"A boy just needed some ... special attention." He says, sitting down next to her.

"You have a new boy?"

"Yes."

"What's his name?" she asks, acting as innocent as possible.

"Why would you want to know?" He says, equally innocent. "And why are you here?"

"Can't I just visit you?"

"I don't think you've ever 'just' visited me. And you came by last week so you can't be here to reload and if you would have been here to reload you would have looked a bit more run-down."

"You've caught me," she calls out dramatically while throwing her hands up as if to surrender. "I'm here for or actually with my friends. They've got this idea that Emma's son is here in Neverland." She says this, looking directly at Peter to see his reaction. His face doesn't show any emotion but his shoulders tilt ever so slightly backward which is all the evidence Angel needs. Still, she asks, "you don't happen to know anything about him, do you?"

"No, I don't," He says, standing up quickly. "So if that is all you came for, I suggest you just go back where you came from." He turns around, clearly done with the conversation. 

Suddenly Angel can't seem to keep her cool anymore. "What do you want with him?!" She calls after Peter.

He turns around and in a second he stands right in front of Angel. "I told you I don't have him."

"And we both know you're lying so cut the crap and just hand him over to me. If you do that, we might both come out of this alive!"

Peter is silent for a moment, registering what Angel just said. "What do you mean by 'we both come out of this alive'?"

"I had a vision," Angel starts, momentarily forgotten about Henry. "After this at least one of us is no more."

"So you mean I'd finally be rid of you?" Peter asks tentatively, afraid she’s just joking.

"Just so you know, I'm going to make sure that I'm not the one that goes down. But to get back to the point, if you give me Henry, 'cause I know you have him, none of this will happen. We can just leave and act like this never happened."

"Just so we're clear, I'm. Not. Going. To. Give. You. Henry." Peter says, a serious look in his eyes.

"So you do have him?" 

A cocky smile appears on Peter's face, "Yes, but you knew that. Now I have to go, important business and all." And with that, he’s gone.

"Prick," Angel murmurs. She turns around, turns into her fairy-form and, without another glance behind her, flies away. 

If she had been looking behind her, she would have seen two glowing eyes looking at her from the shadows. And as she flies away so does the thing attached to the eyes. Flying after her to report to its master where her camp is and who are there with her. It has long been the shadow's job to provide Peter with all the information of everyone on the island. Not like it minds. It has always loved to make life harder for people. So here it is following this girl who seems to get under Peter's skin more than he lets on. Why? It doesn't know. All it knows is that Peter wants her followed.  _ 'So that's what I'll do,' _ Shadow thinks to itself.  _ 'I'll keep helping Peter Pan until he destroys himself.' _ Thinking about this, it keeps following Angel.


	8. Chapter 8

Flying back, Angel keeps thinking about Henry and what could be happening right now at Pan's camp.  _ 'He won't be torturing him, would he? _ ' she asks herself.  _ 'No, 'course not he needs Henry. I just hope the Boys aren't too hard on him.'  _

Finally, she arrives at the ridge again.  _ 'Now all I have to do is to find the camp.' _ She thinks to herself. She closes her eyes and focuses on Emma and the others, thinking about what she loves about them and also about what she doesn't like about them. She can feel them, they're close. She opens her eyes again and follows her feelings. Not soon after that, she walks into a clearing. She sees Regina who is busy setting up a primitive tent. She doesn't see the others anywhere.

"I'm back," Angel says.

Regina looks up and asks, "Where were you? The others are looking for you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know I was gone so long. And, by the way, I had to find the camp too. That also took some time."

"Whatever," Regina answers, looking back at her tent again. "This'll do for now."

"Do you have any idea where the others are?"

"How should I know? It's your fault they're gone. You should look for them yourself."

"Just help me find them," Angel says, sitting down on the ground cross-legged. She pats the ground in front of her. "Sit down.”

Regina does as she's told, but can't help asking, "Why?"

"I need you to help me find the others. I need you to think about them. I don't care in what way. It wi l l help me to pinpoint the exact location they are," Angel says, grabbing Regina's hand while looking at her pleading. 

"Sure," Regina says, shrugging her shoulders. 

They concentrate very hard and after a few minutes, Angel says, "I know where they are."

She pulls Regina up and starts running into the jungle. "Where are we going?" Regina asks, reluctantly following behind the teenager.

"Just trust me. I know what I'm doing," Angel answers. And a few minutes later, "There they are."

The others are trying to cut a way through the jungle with their swords. 

"You know that isn't going to work, right?" Angel asks.

As one, they stop hacking at the plants and turn around. "Angel, where were you?" Snow asks her, looking her up and down to look for any signs of cuts and bruises.

"I'm fine, Snow. And I was investigating something, it just didn't turn out the way I wanted it to."

"What were you investigating?" Emma asks, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Maybe we should talk about that back at the camp, before they see us."

Everyone agrees and they walk back to the camp. Once there they all take a seat around the campfire which Angel lights with a fireball.

"Well Angel, start talking."

"Well... I was thinking that maybe I could get Henry back if I just had a moment alone with one of the Boys. I mean they know me and I can sometimes get them to do stuff for me, so I just thought... I can always try, right. So I tried but they're just too afraid of Peter to betray him like that." _ 'At least it's all sort of true,'  _ she thinks.  _ 'Now I just hope they believe me.' _

"Why couldn't you just tell us?" David asks.

"I didn't know if it was going to work and I didn't want to disappoint y ou guys. So, now you know."

"We're not disappointed, Angel. At least you tried, right," Snow says, trying to make Angel feel better. "Let's all just go to bed and we'll see what to do next tomorrow, okay?"

Angel yawns and nods. "That's probably a good idea." 

************************************* 

Not too long after that, everyone lays in a makeshift bed, asleep. That is, until Emma wakes everyone up again.

"What's going on?" Angel asks, still half asleep.

"I just saw Peter Pan," Emma says. Immediately everyone is totally awake.

"You what?" Angel asks.

"I thought I heard something so I went to investigate. That's when I saw him in the jungle."

"Where?" David asks.

"Just a few miles that way," Emma says, pointing behind her. Without another word, David and Snow start walking in the way Emma pointed.

"What did he want?" Angel asks, a look of terror in her eyes. 

' _ What are you not telling us?'  _ Emma thinks, but she says, "He gave me this, saying it would show us where Henry is, when I stop denying who I really am, or something like that." She shows a piece of parchment and sits down. 

"He so likes his games," Hook says.

"What do you mean? There's nothing to see," Regina says.

"If Peter says there's something on it, than there is," Angel answers.

"I just have to stop denying who I really am, or whatever, so we can read the thing."

"Who is to say that Pan's not just using this to lead us straight into a trap?" Regina asks.

"He doesn't have to," Hook and Angel say at the same time. Angel can't help but smile a little before continuing, "He doesn't have to because this whole island is like a trap."

In the meantime Snow and David have come back. "He's gone."

"And that surprises you?" Angel asks.

"Any luck with the map?" Snow asks, not paying any attention to Angel.

"Don't hold your breath," Regina answers.

"What do you mean?" Emma asks, clearly offended.

"Don't you see? Every minute we spend thinking about this thing, we aren't out finding my son. If we just use magic" Everyone sighs. "If there's a magic spell on it I can get around it."

"Breaking Pan's rules would be unwise," Hook tells Regina.

"Besides, maybe we should give Emma a chance first," Angel butts in.

"Great," is all Regina says before walking away.

************************ 

A while later the map's still invisible, even after Emma said she's the savior.

"I don't get it. There is nothing I've denied more than me being the savior," Emma says.

"Let me try," Regina says, ripping the parchment away from Emma. "I'm beginning to think that there was no map to begin with. That doesn't mean it can't take us to Henry." She starts performing a magic spell.

"I thought we agreed magic wasn't the answer," David says.

"Relax, this is just a simple locator spell," Regina tells him.

"If you're going to use magic and cheat your way through Peter's games, I'm gonna stay here, because  _ this _ can only mean trouble," Angel says, sitting down on a rock in the middle of the camp. 

The parchment in Regina's hand starts to glow and slowly it starts drifting into the jungle. 

"It seems we'll be going into the dark jungle after all," Hook says.

"You mean the place you told us never to set foot in?" Emma asks.

"That's the one."

"Well, Emma, you said you were the leader. So lead."

And one by one they start to walk after the parchment until Angel is the only one left in the camp.


	9. Chapter 9

Peter's POV

"Prick," I hear Angel say as she flies away. I don't know why, but I can always hear her. It's like she's inside my head. Not that I mind, I mean she's a beautiful girl and when she laughs it's like the sun shines a bit brighter, and when she looks at me I feel a peculiar warmth inside. 

I shake my head. I'm  _ Peter Pan _ . This has been happening more often lately. Strange feelings I haven’t felt in a long time popping up whenever she’s near. I’m sure it's just that stupid curse messing with my head. 

I decide to go back to my camp to check on Henry. I concentrate my energy on the camp and feel the familiar pull of my magic. I close my eyes for a second and when I open them I'm in my tent again. I walk through the door, out into the clearing where my boys are busy training. Some are practicing with their swords, but most of them are busy shooting arrows at targets. I look around trying to find Henry. When I can't find him, I walk towards one of the Boys, Aron. He's one of the first Lost Boys so he knows about most things that go on around here.

"Aron, where's Henry?" I ask. He looks up from his sword which he was polishing.

"Last time I saw him, he was trying to get away but Felix stopped him."

I should have known he'd try to get away, he's the son of the Savior after all. Without another word I walk away. If Henry is with Felix I know where they are.

I walk towards the other end of the camp. And there they are, sitting under the biggest tree in this part of the island.

When Felix sees me coming, he stands up, gesturing for Henry to do the same. Clearly he doesn't want to but he obviously knows what happens if he doesn't do what we tell him to. 

"Well, look what we have here," I say. "I've been looking everywhere for you." 

Henry just looks at the ground, ignoring me. I don't really care. He will give me what I want in the end, I'll make sure of that. "Are you hungry?" I ask Henry. He doesn't answer but I can see his hand moving to his stomach. 

"Dylan!" I call out. A boy comes up to us. He has black hair that reaches his shoulders, a light-brown skin, and dark brown eyes that seem almost black. "Make sure Henry gets food and keep him occupied for the time being." Dylan walks up to Henry, takes his upper arm in his hand and takes him towards where the other boys are still training.

I turn to Felix. "Have you visited Rumple like I asked?" I ask him.

"Yes."

"And the doll?"

"He cried just like you said he would." 

I laugh, just like I'd expected. Rumple still can't handle his past, a weak point I'm more than eager to press. But first I have another problem to solve.

"Angel is here."

"She called you, didn't she?"

"Yes, she thought I'd be stupid enough to give her the boy for nothing."

"She should know better by now."

"Yes, she should. But that's not the only thing she told me. She had a vision. It showed her that after this, only one of us will survive. We have to make sure that I will be that one."

"We can get the Boys to take her out," Felix suggests.

"No we can't. They like her, the fools. They won't hurt her, they're too loyal. The only thing we can do, is to have someone else do it for us."

"What do you mean, Pan?"

"None of us can kill her, so it has to be one of her friends or herself."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"By making sure her friends don't trust her anymore. By making them hate her so much that they just don't have another choice. But how are we going to do that?" I think out loud. Suddenly I hear something.  _ Pan, I need to talk to you _ . I smile, my shadow is back with news. "We will talk about this later, first I need to do something else." I turn around and walk straight to my tent.

Inside I call upon the shadow. Not a moment later I hear,  _ "I have the information you asked for." _

I turn around. "Good. So tell me, where is Angel's camp?"

_ "Before I tell you that, I have to tell you that Henry's family is here to find him and the pirate decided to be their guide." _

"Hook came along too? That's quite interesting," I say, already making up a plan to use Hook against Henry's family. "Tell me, Henry's family, who is here exactly?"

_ "The Savior, Snow White and Prince Charming; and the Evil Queen." _

"Is it true she isn't evil anymore?"

_ "She's still not good, but I could feel that the evil inside her is weakened." _

"Such a shame when evil people turn good." I think for a moment. "What about the Savior? What have you found out about her?"

_ "She's still not sure how to feel about the fact that she now has parents, you can use that to your advantage." _

"And I have a good idea how."

***************************************** 

I wait until it's dark and everyone has gone to sleep. This island would actually be very peaceful, if it wasn't for the Boys crying all night. 

I head to the place my shadow told me their camp is. Once I get there I take a quick look around making sure not to wake anyone. I see Snow White and Charming sleeping in one makeshift tent, arms around each other. I walk further and see the Evil Queen lying on her own and a little further lies Hook. Walking around the campfire, which is dying out, I suddenly see Angel. She lies on the ground curled up in a ball with a pained expression on her face. She never liked to stay the night because the Boys' cries drive her crazy, making it hard for her to sleep. I know I 'm here to do a job but I can't seem to take my eyes off of her. Even in this state, she has this weird affect on me.

A motion to my left grabs my attention. I walk over to see that it's the Savior, Emma I think her name is, she keeps stirring in her sleep. She's waking up, so I run back to the bushes and wait.

**************************************

I've been waiting here for half an hour when suddenly she sits up. It's time.

I walk back through the bushes to a little clearing making sure I make enough noise for her to follow but stay quiet enough to not wake anyone else. I hide behind some leaves and wait until Emma makes her appearance. I don't have to wait long. She steps through the bushes, sword at hand, and walks right past me.  _ Now! _ I walk out of the bushes.

"You hear that too?" I ask. She turns around quickly, sword outstretched. "You're Emma, right?" I slowly step towards her. "I wonder why the rest of your group can't hear the crying."

"Who are you?" She finally asks.

"Did I forget to introduce myself, I'm Peter, Peter Pan." She runs towards me, pins me to a tree, ready to slice my throat. How amusing. 

"Where's Henry?" She asks. As if I'd tell her.

"You've got fire. I like fire."

"Where's my son? Where'd you take him?"

"Henry's a very special boy, Emma."

"Yes, he is. But that doesn't answer my question."

"I wanted to see who I was up against and I have to say, I'm not disappointed. So I'm going to help you find him. I'll give you a map." 

She finally lets go of me, so I take the parchment from my pocket and give it to her. "This is a map that will lead you straight to Henry."

"If you think that I believe you-"

I laugh, I can't help it. "I may not be the most well-behaved boy on the island, but I always keep my promises. The way to find Henry is on this parchment." She still doesn't believe me.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"It's not about finding Henry, Emma, it's about how you find him. And you are the only one who can." 

Finally she opens it and says, "it's blank."

"You will only be able to read that map when you stop denying who you are." She looks down at the map again, and when she does I think about my camp again and close my eyes. When I open them again I'm back at the camp, now I just hope my plan worked.


	10. Chapter 10

Angel sits alone in the camp, trying to find out what to do about Peter Pan. _ 'I know I should tell them about Peter, but they'd be so angry at me for not telling them.' _ She starts pacing without even noticing.  _ 'What should I do?' _ "I should ask F for help," she says aloud.

She turns her attention to her watch. And after pressing multiple buttons in the right order her watch starts to change, becoming bigger, while the little clock starts to disappear. Not soon after she no longer has a watch on her arm, in its place is a device almost as big as a phone.

Angel presses a button, "Call F," she says. Not soon after she hears a voice, "Angel, is that you?"

On the little monitor appears a girl, around 19 years old, with blond curls that reach just past her shoulders. Her bright blue eyes look like sapphires on her pale face where you can still see the red spots that show she'd just been crying.

"Hey Fleur, what's wrong?" Angel asks.

"It's nothing," Fleur says, looking like she can start crying again any moment.

"Please Fleur, if anything is wrong you'll tell me right?"

"Angel, I-I just don't want to talk about it now, okay?"

"Whatever you want, sweets. Just know that you can always come to me if you want to talk."

"I know, thanks." She takes a deep breath, steadying herself, and says, "Why did you call? I know you said you'd only call with your communicator if there was an emergency, so what's wrong?"

"I told you about my friends from Storybrooke, right?"

"The fairytale characters? Yes, you did. What about them?"

"Emma's son, Henry, he's been kidnapped-"

"Oh my God! How?!"

"Relax. I was coming to that." Angel says, laughing despite herself. "As I was saying, he's been kidnapped and taken to Neverland."

"Why Neverland?"

"Peter Pan wants him, apparently."

"Why?"

"I don't know. But now I'm in Neverland with Emma, her parents, Regina, and Hook."

"Do they know about you and Pan?"

"That's what I wanted to talk about, actually."

"You haven't told them yet, have you?"

"No, and I don't know if I should. I mean, they'll be furious."

"How do you know that? Have you seen it happen or something?"

"No, nothing like that, but-"

"Then how do you know that will happen, Angel? I think you'd better tell them asap, because the longer you wait, the worse their reaction will be."

All of a sudden Angel feels a rush of pain go through her side. She groans.

"Angel, what's wrong?" Fleur calls out.

"I-I think one of my friends is in trouble, but I promised not to intervene. And I always keep my promises."

"If your friend is in trouble, like you say, you should go and help them, no matter what you promised."

"You don't get it, F. If I don't keep my promises, Peter doesn't have to keep his either."

They keep talking a little longer until Angel hears footsteps approaching. "Gotta go, someone's coming."

"Bye," Fleur says, before ending the call. Immediately after the call ends Angel's watch turns back into a normal watch. In the meantime, Angel grasps her long sword and starts walking towards the sound of the footsteps.

Finally, Emma and the others come out of the bushes, looking all battered up.

"What happened?" Angel asks, lowering the long sword slowly.

"An ambush," Emma answers. "You were right."

"I'm sorry. I was afraid this would happen." Looking from one person to the next she adds, "Did anyone get hurt?"  _ 'Please, let me be wrong about this.' _

"No," They all say.

They spread out, everyone doing something for themselves. Regina is busy with her tent, Hook is drinking rum, Angel is reading, Emma and Snow are talking; only David is nowhere to be seen.

After some time Emma comes running towards the others, seeming excited. "The map is working!" She calls out.

Everyone looks up as Hook takes the map from her. He examines the map and says, "We're here at the southern tip of the island, Pan's camp lies due north."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Regina asks. "Let's get Henry."

"It's not that easy." Hook answers. "There will be some impediments along the way."

"We should make a plan," David says. "We only made it out alive last time, because Pan let us."

"It's time Pan starts playing our game." Emma agrees.


	11. Chapter 11

A few minutes go by where everyone collects their stuff and then they start walking again. Angel leads the way, with Snow and David right behind her. Behind them are Regina, Emma, and Hook. After a few hours of walking, Angel stops, asking, "Are we still going the right way?"

"We should be getting close," Emma says, unfolding the map again. "We've been going on a straight-line course." Looking at the map, the X marking Pan's camp shifts from the right top of the map to the right bottom part. "How is it now behind us?" she asks Hook.

"You got us lost," Regina says.

"Not really," Angel says quickly. "Peter just moved his camp from one place to another, that's one of the reasons the camp is so hard to find."

"If Pan's camp keeps moving, how are we going to find Henry?" Emma asks.

"This is why we need a plan, a really good one." Angel answers.

"So this whole trek has been for nothing?"

"If I could have used some magic, we'd already been in Pan's camp. We'd already have Henry." Regina says.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Angel says, trying not to shout. She can just feel a headache coming up because of how ignorant the woman is being. "We don't know where the camp is exactly. And even if we knew, Peter has a kind of protective shield around the camp, stopping people from coming into the camp using magic."

"Then how do you suppose we find the camp?" Regina asks.

"By using someone he trusts," Hook answers before Angel can say anything.

"Who?" David asks. "I mean he probably doesn't trust you."

"A fairy who used to live here, when I was about. She might still be here. She knows all about the camp and can even get us in. She might even have some pixie dust left that we can use."

"Don't you mean fairy dust?" Emma asks.

"No, pixie dust, it's like fairy dust but then a hundred times as strong." David answers.

Suddenly Emma asks, "That fairy, do you mean, Tinker Bell?"

"Yes," Hook answers. "Do you know her?"

"Sure, everyone 'knows' her."

"This can't be a good idea," Regina says. "I'm telling you, this Tinker Bell is not going to help us."

"I really think Hook is up to something and it can't hurt to try," Angel says. Snow, David, and Emma agree with Hook too, and with Regina being the only one who is against the plan she has no choice but to go along with it. 

They start walking again, this time going the other way towards the middle of the island. This time Hook takes the lead, followed by Angel, Snow, David, Emma, and finally Regina. They aren't far from Tinker Bell's treehouse when Angel hears Regina and Emma argue. Together with the others, she turns around to see what the fuss is about. As soon as she sees what's going on Snow starts walking towards Regina and Emma, David wants to follow too, but gets stopped by Angel, "I think we should give them a moment. It'll be fine." And indeed not soon after, Regina, Emma and Snow start walking again as if nothing happened. "See?" is all Angel says before turning around.

After some time Angel sees Hook and David falling behind.  _ 'What are they up to?' _ She doesn't have the chance to think about it any further, because they're already running back to catch up.

"We're almost there," Hook says. He immediately takes over the lead again and starts heading into the jungle. Everyone starts following until Regina stops. Everyone else goes on except Emma, who saw her stop.

Not soon after they reach the treehouse.

"Hook, can I have a minute?" Angel asks.

"Sure," he answers.

"Do you want us to wait?" Snow asks.

"You go on ahead, we'll follow soon," Angel says. Just then Emma walks out of the bushes.

"Where's Regina?" Snow asks.

"She decided to stay away. She and Tinker Bell have some history." She, Snow, and David start climbing the ladder, while Angel and Hook walk a little further from the treehouse.

"What did you want to talk about, love?" Hook asks.

"Something's wrong with David, isn't there?" Angel says, getting straight to the point.

"Why would you think that?"

"I saw you two together and I know someone got hurt during your fight with Peter because I felt it. So please tell me, how bad is it?"

Hook sighs. "An arrow nicked him. The poison is in his system and I wouldn't give him long."

"How long?" Angel asks, fighting back tears.

"A few days, weeks at most."

"Yeesh."

"You guys," Emma yells, making both Angel and Hook jump.

"What's wrong?" Angel asks while she and Hook join the others.

"Tinker Bell has Regina."


	12. Chapter 12

"What are you talking about?" Angel asks. "Why would Tink do that?" 

"I don't know," Emma admits. "All Regina told me is that she and Tinker Bell have some history together."

"When Regina says that it can never mean anything positive," Snow says.

"We have to find them, but where would Tinker Bell take Regina?" David asks.

Angel and Hook look at each other expectantly.

"You know, don't you?" Emma says, eyeing them.

"I might have a hunch," Angel answers. "But I'm not sure."

"I think I know too," Hook interrupts.

"Do tell what you think,  _ pirate _ ," David says, saying pirate like it's the biggest insult you can get.

"She's probably at Mermaid Lagoon. She used to go there quite a lot when I was here last." Hook says, not paying any attention to David's comment.

"Again, not what I had in mind," Angel says, pushing Hook out of her way. "I bet she's in one of the caves more land-inward. Last time  _ I _ was here she spend most of her time there if she had 'company'. And I mean it's like under ten days since I've been here last, so I think I know a little better what people do now."

"Girl's got a point," David says, clearly satisfied.

"I'm sorry to say but I agree with Angel too," Snow says. 

"And by the way, last time we went where you said we should go we ended up with nothing," Emma adds. 

"Okay, okay, I get it," Hook says, holding up his hand and hook in surrender. Everyone turns to Angel. "Lead the way."

"We have to go this way," Angel says, pointing behind her. "But we should be careful because we'll be going to the heart of the Dark Jungle, so please watch where you're going." Slowly, they start walking. 

After a while of walking in silence, Angel can't help but ask, "What's the plan to get Regina when we find them?" When no one answers she continues, "Look, if Tink has her she's not just going to let her go when we ask her, so we need a plan."

"We just surprise her and make sure she has no way to escape. Then we tell her to release Regina,” Emma says, matter-of-factly.

"You really think it's going to be this easy?" Angel asks, surprised.

"Of course not, but we just have to make it work. We need everyone if we want to save Henry."

Angel thinks about it for a second. "You're right, I guess. But still, it can't possibly be as simple as that, I mean Tink took Regina for a reason, right?"

"I know, but we just have to convince her that we need Regina." Emma says. "And her."

Angel stops walking and looks around. "We're almost there," she says. They walk a little further and soon find an entrance through a group of bushes. "I don't know what we'll see when we pass these bushes so be prepared for anything. Behind her she hears swords being unsheathed. Tentatively they walk through the bushes, just as Tinker Bell walks out of the cave. Immediately Angel puts a finger to her lips, signaling Tink shouldn't say anything about them knowing each other. One by one, the rest follow her, surrounding Tinker Bell and pointing either a sword or an arrow in her direction. 

"Put those things away before you hurt someone," Tinker Bell says without taking her eyes off of Angel.

"Where's Regina?" Emma asks in a tone that clearly states that she means business. When Tinker Bell stays silent Emma walks forward sword at gut-height. "Where is she?" she asks again.

"I'm here, Swan," comes Regina's voice from inside the cave. Walking out like it's the most normal thing in the world she says, "I'm fine."

"Now can you put those things away?" Tinker Bell says. Slowly everyone resheaths their sword, while Snow puts away her bow and arrow.

Looking at Regina, Emma asks, "Have you asked?"

"Yes, Swan. But she won't help. She doesn't have any magic, or her wings."

"Why not?" Angel asks, looking at Tinker Bell. “Why won’t you help?”

"Because you can't fight Pan, you know that. He's too strong."

"But you know where he is," Snow says. It's not a question but Tinker Bell still nods.

"Yes, but what would be in it for me? I mean, say I help, after you're gone that would just leave me with Pan's anger."

"Not if we take you with us," Emma butts in.

"That is what you want, isn't it? To have a home?"

Tinker Bell looks at the ground.

"Tink, we really need your help," Angel says.

"Okay, but listen to me," she begins. "Pan trusts me, so it will be easy for me to get into his camp. Maybe I'll leave a path open for you to get in too. You'll only have one shot at this so you'd better have a brilliant plan."

"Come back to camp with us, we'll figure something out," Snow tells her. 

Everyone starts walking back the way they came, but Angel holds Tinker Bell back.

"They don't know the truth," she says.

"You mean about you and Pan?"

"Yes, and they don't have to. At least, not yet. You can't tell them anything, please." 

"I won't, but what did you tell them?" 

"They think that I come here to take care of the Boys."

"So it's not a total lie?" Tinker Bell asks. Angel just smiles and says, "come the others are waiting."


	13. Chapter 13

Walking towards camp everyone stays silent in anticipation of what will happen next. Once at the campsite, everyone stands still. Where there once was a camp, now is just another empty clearing.

"What happened?" Emma asks.

"I could've sworn this is where the camp was," Regina says.

"It is," Angel says, walking towards a group of bushes at the edge of the clearing. She stops walking when she reaches the first bush and bents down. She stretches out her hand and as she touches it, the bush disappears. In its place are a little mechanical box and all the camp supplies.

"What's that?" Tinker Bell asks.

"This," Angel says, picking up the box. "Is a hologram box. My friend Owen gave it to me."

"Can we trust him?" Regina asks.

**********************************

She had been living with Owen and his family for years now. According to foster care, that is. The truth was that she traveled a lot, she had friends all over the world and stayed with them whenever she visited. 

After a month's absence, she had decided to visit Owen again. As always his parents were happy to see her and his little brothers immediately claimed her, wanting to play with her. Business as usual. After having finger painted the whole evening, Angel brought the boys to bed and after having sung a lullaby the boys fell asleep. Sneaking out of the room without waking the boys, Angel felt someone behind her.

"Hey Owen," she whispered, closing the door. She turned around to see an eighteen-year-old boy standing in front of her. The boy had blond hair and wore an expensive suit. His thick lips were raised into a smile, while his dark eyes were fixed on hers.

"Hello to you too, Angel. I’m glad you decided to come by," Owen said. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess."

"What does that mean?"

"It's nothing, really. I've just been having nightmares, that's all."

"Are you sure that is all there is to it?"

"Yeah. Now, how have you been?"

"It has been the same as always."

"Have you done some inventing lately?"

"Actually, I have. And I think it could be very useful to you."

Angel smiled. "What is it?"

"Still as nosy as ever, I see." Owen smiled. "Some things never change."

"Hey!" Angel said, trying not to laugh. "Just show me already. Or do I have to use my magic," she teased.

"Let's go to my room." 

They started walking through the halls. Even though she had been living in the mansion for a long time, it never failed to impress Angel. It took some time to cross the mansion to come to Owen's room. Owen's room was the biggest one in the mansion. It was mostly full of all kinds of nick-nacks Owen made himself and on one of the walls hang the biggest TV-screen known to mankind. On the big table that stood in the middle of the room lay a stack of books next to all kinds of tools.

"Ehm Owen, where is this invention of yours?" 

"Don't you see it? It's right here." Owen said, pointing at the stack of books.

"You know those are just some books right?"

Annoyance flashed across Owen's face. "Just touch it. Please." 

Angel did as she was asked, but as she touched it the books dissolved, and in its place appeared a little box.

"What the-"

Owen looked triumphant. "It can make holograms of whatever you want, it can even be used to hide things you don't want to be found."

"So it's a hologram box?"

"Technically-"

"Right. But, you are willing to give it to me?"

"Yes, I can't use it anyway. I linked it to your DNA so you are the only one that can make it work."

Angel ran to Owen and hugged him tightly. "Thanks so much, Owen. You always know what I need." Realizing what she was doing, she quickly released Owen and smiled.

He smiled back. "You know I would always help you if you need me."

They kept talking, until early in the morning.

********************************************

"Yeah, I know we can count on him," Angel says, answering Regina's question. "At least, we could."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Regina asks.

"Well he-he died a few weeks ago," Angel says, trying not to cry. "He was killed by a magic bomb. He saved me, but got himself killed in the process." Tears are now trickling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Angel. I didn't know."

"It's not your fault." Angel wipes away her tears and snaps her fingers. All the camp supplies that lie at her feet seem to glow and start dissolving, re-appearing in the place they lay before, and bit by bit the camp materializes.

"Shall we talk about the plan to get Henry back?" 


	14. Chapter 14

Everyone gathers around the fire.

"Okay, we all know we need a good plan to get into Pan's camp. But to get into his camp in the first place we have to know the details," Emma says after she has everyone's attention. "Tink?"

"So if this is Pan's camp," Tink starts, placing stones in a square. "Then there's a good chance they are holding Henry here," she says, placing a twig in the middle. "A fireplace will be here and the Boys' tents will be here." She points everything out and continues, "There are three sentries positioned along the front entrance. To the side and back are many plants and bushes which make it hard to get through. There aren't usually many boys who go there."

"So because the front entrance is guarded so well, we are going to invade the camp through the back entrance, here," Emma says, pointing with a stick at a point on the 'map'. "Tink will talk her way into the camp to make sure the coast is clear. Once she does that, we are going to sneak into the camp."

"You will have to deal with any Lost Boys once you get inside."

"I think we've got that covered," Emma says, looking at Angel. "You can get them to mind their own business?"

"Maybe, I mean if Peter is gone I might be able to make the boys do what I want. But I can't promise anything. They are terrified of Peter."

"Either way, I think we can take care of a few kids with pointy sticks," Regina says.

"The sticks are the least of your problems. It's the poison they're dipped in that you should fear."

"Dreamshade. Hook told us about it," Snow says.

"When can we put this rescue mission into action?" David asks before anyone can say another thing. Angel looks at Hook as if to ask,  _ why hasn't he told them yet? _ but Hook just shrugs and keeps listening.

"I'm ready to go, just as soon as you tell me the exit plan," Tink says. "You do have an exit plan, right?"

"This was a bit last minute, so...."

"If you don't have a way off of this island, none of this matters."

"We'll figure it out."

"You don't get it, you can only leave this island with Pan's permission, or if you're her," Tink says pointing at Angel. Everyone turns around and looks at her, expectantly.

"I know what you're thinking and it's not gonna work. I might be strong, but I'm not strong enough to fly away and take you all with me."

"What if we do it in groups?" Emma suggests.

"And leave the other half to fend off the Lost Boys and a pissed off Peter Pan? No way."

"I'm not sticking my neck on Pan's chopping block without a way off of this island. So if you find a way, come and find me." After having said this Tink gets up and walks away.

"I'll get her," David says.

"No, don't," Emma calls after him, making him stop. "She's right. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you never break in somewhere unless you know the way out."

"Then what about you, Hook? You got off of this island before."

"I had my boat then, but I still needed an item that could open a portal, which I got from Pan. And I don't think he's willing to make that same deal again."

"That's it then, apart from Angel, no one else has ever left the island without permission."

"Well, there was one other person," Hook says. "Baelfire."

"But how did he do that?"

"Maybe we can find that out," Angel says. After saying this she suddenly feels a sharp pain in her stomach, like a string being pulled. ' _ Why does Peter call me?'  _ "Guys, I need a minute. I need to do something."

"What's wrong?" Snow asks.

"It's probably nothing but I need to check something before we try to find out how Neal came off of this island." And with that, she walks to the jungle, and not soon after she's swallowed by the plants.

As soon as she is out of sight she transforms and flies away towards the tree. As she arrives, she sees Peter standing there with his back to her. "Why did you call me, Peter?"

Peter turns around and smirks. "I thought I'd give you one last chance to let your friends handle their own problems and just go."

"If that's the only thing you called me for then you've wasted your time and, more importantly, mine." Angel turns around ready to fly away. But as she makes herself ready to fly away, she hears someone whimper. She quickly turns around again and sees a girl sitting on her knees next to Peter, her head buried in her chest, and her blond curls like a curtain covering her face. She seems to be about as old as Angel. 

"I really hoped you hadn't said that," Peter says.

"What do you mean? Who is that?"

Peter kneels next to the girl. "So many questions. Now let me ask one, don't you remember what your friends look like?" He lifts the girl's face and from behind the curls comes a face Angel knows very well.

"Fleur!" Angel cries out, her legs moving forward of their own accord. Peter raises a hand and immediately Angel stands still. "What do you want with her, you monster?" Angel calls out, tears stinging in her eyes.

"It's not what I want with her, or from her. It's what I want from you."

"And that is?"

"I want you to abandon your friends and go away."

Tears start flowing down her cheeks, as Angel says, "I-I can't, you know that. The best I can do is... is promise not to use my magic to help find Henry."

Peter seems to think about this for a second. "And you would swear that on your friend's life?" Fleur starts shaking her head vigorously, but after a look from Peter, she stops and stares at the ground. 

Angel takes one look at her, apology written all over her face. "Yes, I will."

A shudder goes through Fleur and she falls unconscious. "Now give her to me," Angel says.

"You'll get her, just as soon as you find her," Peter says before he and Fleur disappear.


	15. Chapter 15

Standing there, on the top of the tree, looking at the place where Peter was just standing with Fleur, Angel starts crying. And as the tears are flowing down her cheeks Angel makes a promise,  _ I promise to do anything in my power to get Henry and Fleur back from you, Peter Pan. If it is the last thing I do. _

She wipes off her face and, mentally shaking herself, turns around. She walks to the edge of the platform and without hesitation, jumps off. Just a few inches from the ground she opens her wings and flies back to camp. She stops flying once she's near the camp and changes back to human form, taking one more breath before she walks into the clearing.

Everyone turns to look at her. Without meeting anyone's gaze she says, "Let's go."

"Where've you been?" Snow asks.

"None of your business."

"I do think it's our business if it's about Henry or Pan," David says, standing up for his wife.

"It's not. So again, none of your business."

"I do want to know what's got you so worked up, love," Hook says. Everyone looks at Angel with a mixture of concern and interest on their face.

"I'm sorry, guys. I can't tell you. Just know that it has nothing to do with Henry. And by the way, stop looking at me like that, I don't need three moms and two dads. Now, can we go find Neal's hide-out or do we stay here doing nothing?"

"Let's go," Emma says.

"Lead the way, Hook," Angel says. "This time I have no idea where we're going."

"Follow me," Hook says as he walks into the jungle. Everyone starts following him, but just before Angel walks out of the clearing she turns around once more and snaps her fingers. And as she catches up with the rest, the camp starts disappearing as if it had never existed.

"Where are we going?" Regina asks Hook as they are walking.

"Neal's hide-out, I thought you knew that," Hook says, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Haha, Hook. What Regina meant to say was 'where is this hide-out exactly?'" Angel says, very annoyed.

"I knew that," Hook murmured under his breath, earning a glare from Angel. Out loud he says, "It's close by, only a mile from here. We'll be there in no time."

"And how do we know we've found it?"

"It's a giant rock, very hard to miss."

For some time, they walk in silence, until they arrive at a massive rock covered in vines.

"What's this?" Regina asks.

"So what," Emma says. "Neal swung out of Neverland on a vine?"

"If it were that easy, I would've taken the Lost Boys away eons ago." Angel says, looking quite miserable.

"If someone might be so kind as to... lend me a hand, maybe you, Savior?" Hook says, eyeing Emma. Emma starts walking towards him, but David beats her to it. 

"I'll do it," is all he says. Together, Hook and David start pulling a rope, hoisting the hidden door and making a doorway visible.

"Ladies first," Hook says, while David ties the rope to a stone. Emma, Regina and Snow walk inside, but Angel stays behind.

Looking at David she asks Hook, "How is he?"

"Not good, but he won't admit it."

"Why is he so stubborn?"

"He's a prince, what did you expect?"

In the meantime, David has finished tying up the rope and is walking towards them.

"You're not talking about me, are you?" He asks, specifically looking at Hook.

"Stop looking at him like that, I found out myself, if you must know," Angel says bluntly. "I just don't get why you haven't told the others yet, especially Snow and Emma. They have a right to know, you know."

"I know, but I can't tell them, and you can't either." 

"Why not?"

"If anyone should tell them it should be me. And they don't have to know because otherwise they won't be able to focus on finding Henry and that is the most important thing right now."

"Even more important than your life?"

Without hesitation David answers, "Yes."

Angel just shakes her head and heads inside where the others are already busy looking around.

"What is this place?" Emma asks Hook as they enter the hide-out. "What are we doing here?"

Without answering Hook walks to the far wall and tries to light a torch hanging from the wall. Seeing as it doesn't work David walks towards him with a lighter and lights the torch for him. As the torch starts to burn brighter all kinds of drawings appear on the walls.

"Neal," Emma whispers. "He lived here?"

"Aye, that he did. He spent some time on the island as a boy and this was what he called home."

"So maybe, he left a clue or two as to how he escaped Neverland," Angel says.

"Let's hope so, or we'll be lost. Just like he was." Hook answers.

Everyone starts looking through the cave, looking in every crook, digging through every box; and looking at the drawings on the wall. 

Using a coconut half as a candle Emma looks at the drawings on the wall with Hook, while they talk about Neal. They turn their back on the wall as it doesn't seem to mean anything. 

"What's all that?" Emma asks, as she looks around at the various cups and glasses that stand on the tables.

"They're cups Neal made, but I don't think this one was of any use," David says, holding up another coconut half. "It's filled with holes."

"Maybe it's a tiny colander," Snow says. 

"Sure, it is," Regina says sarcastically.

"Hook, snuff out that torch," Emma says holding both halves in her hands. Hook does as he's told and as the darkness returns to the cave, Emma puts both halves on top of each other. As the light shines through the holes, lights appear on the ceiling. "It's a map," Hook says.

"But where does it lead to?" David asks.

"Home.”


	16. Chapter 16

"Good thing we found this, but how can you be so sure it's a map and not just a pretty lamp or something?" Angel asks. "And if it's a map, who can read it? Because I for one don't have the slightest idea what it says."

"For some time on Neverland, Baelfire was aboard my ship. I taught him how to navigate using the stars. This is the fruit of my labors," Hook says. 

"Does that mean you can read this?" Regina asks.

"Sadly, it's not that simple."

"What do you mean? You just said you were the one who taught Neal how to do this," David says, gesturing the map.

"That is true, but I also taught him the key to being a pirate, secrecy. The best pirates conceal their maps in a code and, being the apt pupil he was, he learned to do that too."

"So simply put, the only person who can read the map is Neal?" Snow asks.

"Lucky for us, he's gone now. So we're back where we started," Angel says, her voice dripping in sarcasm and annoyance, earning a stern look from Regina while Emma quickly walks out of the cave followed by Snow and David.

"Good job, Angel," Regina sneers. 

"What?" Angel asks. "It's not like you didn't think about it. I was just the only one with the guts to say it out loud."

"You know how hard it has been on Emma. You might have used a little more tact."

Taking a deep breath, Angel says, "You may be right. Maybe I shouldn't have said the first thing that popped in my mind. I should apologize to Emma."

Just then, they hear someone walking into the cave. They wait to see Emma appear. Feeling Regina's eyes bore little holes in her back, Angel walks towards Emma saying, "Emma, I'm really sorry about what I just said. I wasn't thinking and I feel awful about it."

"It's alright, Angel. You said what we were all secretly thinking and if you hadn't said it, I would have."

A small smile appears on Angel's face. "So you forgive me?"

"What is there to forgive?" Emma says, smiling back.

More footsteps can be heard entering the cave. "Now everyone's back again, we can keep looking if we can find anything else of value," Hook says and everyone starts looking through the cave again, hoping to find something to decipher the map.

"Look," Emma says after a while. She's standing near a rock and mattress which appear to be a makeshift bed. "Neal counted his days on the island." She jumps onto the rock tracing markings on the wall, stopping at some faint lines. "This is where he stopped counting."

"Because he got off of the island, right?" Snow asks.

"No that's not it."

"Why would he stop counting if he was still on the island?" David asks.

"Because he didn't believe he could ever leave anymore. He lost hope," Emma says, matter-of-factly.

"And how do you know that is the reason? He could've just run out of coal."

"I know because I did it too, when I was in the foster system. I counted until counting seemed pointless."

"And you think the same thing goes for Henry?" Snow asks.

"Pan said so," Emma says, unable to look anyone in the face, so looking at the floor instead.

"Emma, there's one thing you need to understand," Angel says. "Henry is an amazingly strong boy. He won't fall for Peter's tricks that easily. He'll have faith. All we have to do is have faith in ourselves.”

"Angel is right," David chimes in. "We're going to rescue Henry."

"Just because we know that doesn't mean Henry does."

Angel lightly touches Emma's shoulder. "Emma, like I told you. He believes in us. All we have to do is to follow his guide and do the same. As long as he doesn't listen to Peter's pipes he'll be okay."

"His pipes?" Regina asks.

"Peter Pan's pipes are enchanted. Only the lost can hear them. So as long as Henry doesn't hear them, as long as he doesn't give in to them we still have a good chance to save him."

"And what if he does hear and give in to them?" Emma asks.

"It's still not the end of the world," Hook says. "If that happens we just have to move a little quicker to make him see we're here."

"Indeed," Angel adds. "If that happens we have to make him believe again."

"So what if he loses faith? What would you want to do? Send him a message? Because I haven't seen anything around here that might look like a Neverland Post Office. What do you suggest we do?"

"We start being clever. All we have to do is send Henry a simple sign so he knows we're coming," Emma says.

"And how would you want to do that with Lost Boys everywhere trying to kill us?"

"Maybe we can use that to our advantage," Snow says.

"How?"

"Follow me and I'll show you," Snow says, walking outside. One by one, the others start following.

They start walking to the camp again, but once there a big surprise awaits them.

"The camp's gone, again," Regina says. They are all waiting on the outskirts of the camp, where the clearing meets the trees.

"Is this another of your tricks, Angel?" David asks.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Angel says, walking into the clearing. But as she takes two steps, she vanishes into thin air.

"What's going on?" Hook asks, alarmed.

"Let's just follow her and find out ourselves," Regina answers. Tentatively, they start walking into the clearing. As they walk they feel a light breeze, which is just strong enough to sting their eyes. Quickly they shut their eyes and as they open them again, they're standing on the edge of the camp, while Angel stands a few feet in front of them.

"What do you think of my cloaking spell?" She asks. "This way, the camp is protected against people who mean to harm someone and now we don't have to clear out the camp every time we go somewhere else on the island. It's perfect." 

Regina looks around in awe. "So this spell... it covers the whole camp?"

"Yes, otherwise it wouldn't do any good, now would it?"

"But doesn't keeping a spell like this up all the time drain your powers?"

"Not really, no. I cast this spell specifically because this spell doesn't need to feed on my powers the whole time. Instead, it feeds on the magic that's on the island, which is a lot."

Before Regina can ask any more questions, Angel turns to Snow. "So what's this big plan of yours?"


	17. Chapter 17

"Well, first off all, we're gonna need vines, and lots of them," Snow explains.

"Good thing we're in a jungle. I guess we've got that covered," Regina says sarcastically.

"After that, we're going to use them to make a rope, a trap of sorts," Snow continues like Regina never said a word. Quickly, she starts collecting vines, braiding them together.

"You want to set a trap?" Regina says. "That's your 'big plan'?"

"If the Lost Boys think they can just go after us, we've got to go after them," Snow reasons. In the meantime, David and Angel are bringing vines back and forward.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" Angel asks, stopping to catch her breath. "The Boys are not as stupid as you think, you know. Most of them are actually really smart."

"If there is one thing you taught me, it's that being smart doesn't mean you can't do stupid things," Emma reacts.

"But do you really think a Lost Boy is going to betray Pan?" Hook asks, not convinced the plan would work.

"Thank you so much for the advice," Snow says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "David, we really need more vine."

"I'm on it," David says, before walking away again.

"I'll go help him," Angel and Hook say at the same time. Angel takes one look at Hook and says, "We'll both go."

Together, they walk after David. "Hook, would you be so kind as to find some vines for the ladies? I've got to talk to David," Angel says as they catch up to David who is grunting and panting. 

"If you insist," Hook says, though he stays close.

Angel turns her attention to David, " _ What _ do you think you're doing?! You're playing with your life which, news flash, isn't long anyway. All this walking around business isn't going to make your life any longer."

"Why do you care?" David asks, starting to get angry.

Angel, getting quite pissed herself, struggles to keep her voice even. "Because I don't want to see you die too."

David is at a loss of words. "Angel, I..." 

"I've seen my fair share of friends die because of stupidity and if there's one thing you are not, it's stupid. So stop making these stupid decisions and tell the others. Spend the time you have left with your family instead of,  _ this _ ," Angel says waving an arm around her.

"The girl is right, mate," Hook says, seemingly coming from out of nowhere, without any vines. "You're probably going to die in a day or so, so this is a good moment to think about other things."

Something in David's eyes changes and where she just saw doubt, Angel now sees annoyance.  _ 'What have you done Hook? I almost had him.' _

"At least if I die," David starts.

"When," Hook corrects.

" _ When _ I die, I die for my family which is something you wouldn't understand even if your life depended on it."

Feeling a fight coming, Angel says, "I do  _ not _ want to get in the middle of this, so come back to camp when you're done." With that, she turns around picking up vines along the way. Once back at the campsite she lays the vines down on a shrinking pile. 

"Where are David and Hook?" Emma asks.

"They are still looking for vines, they sent me back with these so you wouldn't have to wait for new vines."

"Can't you help us braid this stuff, with the four of us working on it, we'll be done sooner."

After a few minutes of work, the pile of vines has vanished. 

"Now all we have to do is tie the pieces together and we have ourselves a rope," Snow says excitedly.

Just then, David and Hook walk out of the bushes.

"I may have found a way to read Neal's map," Hook announces. "A sextant."

"Why haven't you told us about this before?" Emma asks.

"And how can we be sure you're not lying about this?" Regina asks, clearly suspicious.

"You don't know, but I can tell you I'm not. This may be the best hope yet of an exit plan and we truly need one."

"Then why are we still here? Let's go already," Emma says.

"Emma," Hook starts, walking towards her. "You really need to get that message to Henry. Every day he doesn't hear from you, he's a day closer to losing all hope. We can't have that. That's why only your father and I should go."

"Hook's right," David chimes in.

"You want to split up?" Snow asks.

"It's actually a good idea," Angel quickly says. "This way we can do two things at once. We can worry about getting that message to Henry and they can worry about getting that sextant."

"It really is the last thing I want to do right now but it really is our best chance of getting Henry back and getting home safely."

Angel feels a goodbye-scene coming on so she goes to stand with Hook.

"You're going to bring him to the cure too, right?" she asks him.

"What makes you think that?" Hook asks, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"I think you care more than you let other people believe. I think that given the chance, you can really become the hero Emma is looking for."

Hook has no time to reply as David is walking towards them.

"Be safe, okay?" Angel tells David as she pulls him in for a hug. Letting him go, she starts walking towards the women, "Are you ready for some hunting?"

They start walking in the opposite direction of the retreating men. "I know a place where the Boys sometimes go to hunt. It's only half a mile from here."

Not long after, they reach another clearing in which stands a big boar.

"Hide quickly," Angel whispers. "Someone's coming."

They quickly set the trap and all pick a spot to hide. Not soon after, a Lost Boy appears. Snow aims and shoots the rope holding the trap in place, dropping it right over the Lost Boy. They all run towards him, while he tries to get the net off of him.

"What are you doing? Do you want to anger Pan?" the Boy says, the fresh cut on his cheek starting to bleed again.

"Easy, Devon, we're not here to hurt you," Angel says quickly before anyone else can react.

"Angel?" Devon asks, a puzzled look on his face. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here."

"Peter probably didn't tell you but when he kidnapped Henry, he kidnapped my friend. We only want to get him back."

"Just because Pan is our enemy doesn't mean you have to be," Regina joins in. "All you have to do is help us get a message to Henry."

"We don't want to hurt you, we are only asking you to help us," Emma adds.

"Why would I do that?" 

"Because you also had a family once, only you stopped believing you could go back to them. We can help you, all of you. We can take you back with us. just help us," Angel asks, stretching out her hand, willing for him to take it.

Slowly Devon reaches for it, but as he reaches her hand he slaps it away. "You don't get it, do you? We are here because we don't want to go."

"But what about Pan? He's evil, just look at what he did to you," Emma practically screams.

"You mean this?" Devon asks, gesturing at the cut. "Pan didn't do this. Henry did."


	18. Chapter 18

They all stare at Devon as if he just said the ground is made out of pudding.

"You're kidding us, right?" Angel asks.

"Nope," is all he can say before Emma pushes him against a tree.

"Bring us to him," she sneers.

"It's too late. He's a Lost Boy now and there's nothing you can do to change that. Your son is one of the most vicious recruits we've had in ages."

" _ Don't _ say that," Emma snaps. Snow walks up to them and pries Emma off of Devon before she can strangle him. She leads her away while Angel ties Devon up, whispering to him. 

"What do you think you're doing Devon? Don't you know that you're playing with fire?" Angel asks while securing the rope.

"What do you care?" he snaps. "Don't act like you really care about us, 'cause we all know you don't, not really."

"How can you say that?" Angel asks, walking around the tree to stand in front of Devon. "I'd do anything and everything to protect you guys. Don't you know how many fights I’ve had with Peter trying to make life better for you and the other Boys?"

"Angel," Snow calls.

Angel looks over her shoulder to the others, seeing that Regina is trying to come their way but turns back and before she walks towards the others says, "I really hope you choose to help us because I can't live with myself if anything was to happen to you because you made the wrong choice."

"What's going on?" Angel asks as she approaches the others.

"Let me rip his heart out," Regina says angrily.

"No!" Snow and Angel say.

"Why would you do that?" Angel asks.

"So he'll do exactly as we want," Regina says, looking like the Evil Queen once again.

"This is not how we do things," Snow says. "We can figure out another way to get a message to Henry."

Angel bites her lip. "Regina, please understand when I say that I consider Devon a friend of mine. I can't let you hurt my friends, now can I?"

"Really? So you consider the boy that won't help us talk to  _ our _ boy a friend?"

"That's not it. I consider the boy that would give me wildflowers when the other boys aren't looking a friend. This is just the scared version of that boy. What I mean is that I'd rather not see him in pain, so if there's no other way, I'm going for a walk."

"And what do you think, Emma?" Regina asks, focusing her attention on Emma, while Snow looks at Angel in disbelieve.

"I think we need to talk to our son," Emma says, while she walks towards Snow. "I think that's the most important thing right now."

"We can't, Emma," Snow says. "That's abuse. It's brutal."

"We can't," Emma says, as she hugs Snow so hard she can't move. "But Regina can. So do it."

As Regina walks over to Devon, Angel walks into the jungle as fast as she can, feeling nauseous. It is only as she walks through the trees that she allows herself to cry. Suddenly feeling a sharp pain in her chest, she knows that the deed is done. Slowly, she starts heading back to the others, wiping the tears off her face.

Back in the clearing, she goes to sit on one of the stones scattered across the clearing.

"We shouldn't have done this," Snow says. "It's not right."

"We didn't do it," Emma says, trying to make herself and Snow feel better. "Regina did, not us."

"I'm worried about Henry and I want to do whatever I can to get him back, but this is wrong," Snow says.

"I'm worried about Henry too. That's why I let Regina do what she does best."

"I'm just worried about what remains of the line when we get back home."

"What line?"

"The line between what you are willing to do and what Regina is willing to do."

While Snow and Emma are talking, Regina unties Devon and motions for him to follow her. As Angel looks at this, she has to fight hard to stop new tears from coming.

Regina stops when she gets to Snow and Emma who are still fighting. "Second thoughts?"

Angel, Emma, and Snow stand up. "No," Emma says. "Let's give Henry a message."

"We can do better than that," Regina says, reaching into her pocket and taking out a little mirror, which she breaks in half. She keeps one half for herself as she gives the other to Devon. "With this, we can talk to him."

"Before we sent Devon on his way, can I just have a minute with him?" Angel asks suddenly.

"Sure," Regina says. "He just won't know you said anything to him."

"That's okay. I just need to get some things off my chest, that's all."

The others nod, walking away to give Angel and Devon some privacy.

Angel grabs Devon's hand and pulls him closer to the edge of the clearing, as far away from prying eyes and ears as possible. "I'm sorry, Devon," Angel says, fighting to keep the tears from falling. "I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen. If you'd just helped us without having to rip your heart out-" The tears are now flowing down her cheeks. "I really wished it could have been different, but alas." Kissing him on his forehead she mumbles, "I just hope that one day you can find the strength to forgive me." 

Regina comes back, closely followed by Emma and Snow. "Are you done yet?" Regina asks. "We have to send him on his way."

After a few more instructions, Devon leaves to get back to Peter's camp. "So what now?" Emma asks.

"Now? Now we make sure that boy gives Henry the message," Regina says pulling out Devon's heart.

"Let's get this over with."

Looking through the mirror, Regina follows Devon's movements until he arrives at his camp.

"Now, go to Henry," she orders him. As he walks towards Henry, she puts her head closer to the heart, using it as a microphone as she hears Henry say, "I don't want to fight right now, okay?"

"I don't come to fight, but to deliver a message." She pulls away a little bit. "Take Henry somewhere no other Boys will hear you." As she leans in again she says, "Your family is here. They've been here for a while."

"You're messing with me," she hears Henry say. "B-because I cut you. You want to get back at me."

"No! I'm not. I promise I'm not making this up, really. I'll prove it to you." She pulls away from the heart again and says, "give him the mirror and walk away."

She drops her hand and goes to stand with the others who are already looking at the tiny mirror.

"Mom?" Henry asks, surprised to see them. "This can't be real, this must be a trick."

"It's not," Emma says quickly. "I promise you this is really happening. We're coming to get you, okay, kid? It's operation Cobra Rescue."

"You're really here?" Henry says, a wave of relief washing over him.  _ 'They're coming for me.' _

"We really are here, Henry," Regina says. "And we're coming to get you out of there."

Suddenly Henry says, "Someone's coming and I think it's Pan. I have to go."

"We love you," Snow says.

"I really have to go!" And with that, the connection is broken.

Regina, Snow, and Emma look at Angel who looks at them with a big smile. "What?" Regina asks.

"The hope is back in his heart, I could feel the moment it hit him. Everything's going to be fine. He'll believe and he won't stop until we find him."


	19. Chapter 19

"Are you sure Henry will be okay, Angel?" Snow asks as they walk back to camp.

"As I told you, Snow, I felt what he felt when he saw you and found out we're truly here. I'm telling you, he'll be alright," Angel says, trying her very best to assure Snow and the others.

As they walk into the camp, Angel walks towards her tent while Emma and Snow are having a mother-daughter moment, which is interrupted when they hear leaves rustling nearby. Quickly, they all take out a weapon until they hear a familiar voice say, "Stand down, it's just us."

David and Hook walk out of the jungle and Angel lets out a breath she didn't know she held in.  _ 'He survived,' _ is all she can think.

David immediately walks towards Snow and kisses her.

"Where's the sextant?" Regina asks Hook, trying not to look at Snow and David.

"We were too late," Hook answers. "I'm afraid Pan beat us to it."

As David lets go of Snow, she says, "not that I'm complaining but-"

As he kisses her again, Emma looks away. "Okay, now I'm complaining."

"Awkward," Angel says with a smile on her face.

"What do you mean Pan beat you to it?" Regina asks Hook, being the only one who doesn't pay attention to the whole Snow-David make-out scene.

"What I mean is just as I said. Pan got to the sextant first."

"Hook," David says after he's finally done kissing Snow. "He saved my life up there."

Hook looks at him puzzled. "Are you sure this is the right time to tell them this, mate?"

A little hesitant, David continues, "While we were walking, we were ambushed by Lost Boys. We were outnumbered. I almost got hit by a poisoned arrow, but Hook, he risked his life to save me from it. It's thanks to him that I'm still alive." David walks towards Hook. "May I have your flask?"

Reluctantly, Hook reaches into his back pocket and takes out his rum flask, giving it to David. "I thought you deserved a little credit," is all he says before taking a sip and passing it on to Snow.

"To Hook, who saved my husband," she says before drinking from the flask and trying to hand it to Regina.

"I don't do rum," is all she says before she walks towards her tent. Shrugging, Snow passes the flask to Angel.

"Thanks for the offer but there's probably a law somewhere that forbids me from drinking this stuff," Angel says as she gives the bottle to Emma.

"To Hook," Emma says, barely believing what she says.

David and Snow walk away with Angel following close behind them, leaving Emma and Hook on their own.

"David, may I talk to you for a sec?" Angel asks him as they're walking. "It's important."

David turns around and looks her in the eyes, seeing nothing but concern. "I'll be right back," he says to Snow as he and Angel walk into the jungle stopping just outside the camp.

"Are you okay?" Angel asks. “I mean  _ really _ okay?”

"Yeah, as I said, Hook saved me."

" There's save and then there's  _ save _ . Tell me, did he use magic or a magical item to heal you?"

"Well, he talked about magical water."

"You mean the water from the Neverland Falls?"

"Something like that."

Angel takes a deep breath. "That's very powerful magic. The cost must have been severe. What's the cost? What did you have to do?"

Now, it's David's turn to take a deep breath. "The cost is that I can never leave Neverland, not unless I'm willing to die."

"Because the water holds Neverland's magic," Angel guesses.

"Indeed."

"But what about Snow, Emma, and Henry?"

"We'll figure something out," David says, having enough of the conversation. "But now, I want to be with my wife if you don't mind."

As he walks away, Angel thinks,  _ 'this can never end well. _ '

Walking back to the camp, Angel sees Emma and Regina standing near the unlit campfire.

"Concentrate harder!" Regina yells at Emma.

"I can't when you're yelling at me!" Emma yells back.

"Or when the wind blows or when the sun shines, or when some maniac is shooting arrows at your face. It's true, concentration is very hard, but that's just it. You need to learn how to concentrate."

"What's going on?" Angel asks Snow as she goes to sit next to her and David.

"Regina's trying to teach Emma how to use her powers," she answers. They sit and watch as Regina angers Emma until she finally makes a little flame.

"You're doing it all wrong," Angel says, putting out the flame with a flick of her wrist.

"Hey," Emma says. "I worked hard for that."

"As I said before," Angel says, looking at Regina. "You're doing it wrong. How can you teach her magic if you only focus on one trigger emotion?"

"What do you mean?" Regina asks.

"All you tell her is to use her anger to focus. Now let me demonstrate." Angel turns to Emma. "Emma, let's try something different. Just start by thinking about Henry, just think of him nothing else. Are you thinking of him? Nod if you do." Emma nods. "Okay, now think of what you feel when you think of him, don't just think of the happy thoughts, also think of the other emotions. It doesn't matter if they're good or bad. Are you doing that?" Emma nods again. "Now, go deeper into those feelings, make them warm you from within, imagine them swirling inside and all around you. You are doing fine." A light glow seems to surround Emma. "Now, imagine all that warmth passes through you to the firewood. Imagine it taking over the heat of your emotions and open your eyes when you feel you passed down all that warmth to the point where all your emotions have settled again." No sooner has she said that or the firewood starts to glow as a little flame appears. It keeps growing till it's the perfect size for a campfire.

Slowly, Emma opens her eyes and looks at the fire she created. "Did I just do that?" She asks.

With a smile on her face, Angel answers, "Yes, you did. Now all you need to do is train."

From the corner of her eye, Angel sees Hook approach David and Snow after which they start talking in hushed voices.  _ 'Something's wrong.' _

Emma follows her gaze and sees Hook, Snow, and David talking. Before Angel can stop her, Emma walks up to them and asks, "What's going on?"

"Neal's alive," Snow tells her. Shocked, Emma looks from one to the other.

"I thought we agreed not to tell her?" David asks.

"I don't think we should keep such a big secret to ourselves," Snow answers.

"Tell me something I don't know," Regina says under her breath.

"What do you mean Neal is alive?" Emma asks.

"Maybe he's alive. Pan paid Hook a visit saying Neal's alive and on Neverland," Snow says before David or Hook can stop her.

"We have to find him," Emma says.

"That's a waste of time," Regina says.

"But what if it isn't?" Snow says, walking towards the jungle. "Look here. Don't you see the scuffling? Someone left here and it wasn't voluntarily."

"How do you know that means Neal's been here?" Emma asks.

"Because whoever it was, they were fighting for their life."


	20. Chapter 20

Regina is the first one to speak. "Are you really going to fall for Pan's games again?"

"What if he really is out there?" Emma asks.

"If you really want to follow that yellow brick road to who knows where, be my guest," Regina turns around and starts walking away.

"Wait," Emma calls out. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to save our son. You may want to listen to a teenager and his games, risking our son's safety, but I don't. I've had it with waiting around, doing nothing." After this, she walks away again, while the others just watch her go.

"What if she's right?" Emma asks, looking at the rest of the group. "What if Pan's just lying?"

"Peter may be many things, but he's no liar," Angel answers. "If he says Neal is alive and kicking here on the island, he's telling the truth."

"Then we should get him back," Emma says determinedly.

"I agree but we'd better get a good night's sleep before we head out into the jungle again," Angel says. "It would be unwise to go there right now as the dark is the playfield of all things even darker in the jungle. Here in the clearing, the moon will protect us, but out there its light is blocked."

"What are you talking about?" David asks.

"Don't you know? The moon is a source of pure white magic. It's the most powerful white magic there is, especially when there's a full moon. We're just lucky every night on Neverland has a full moon. Its magic will keep the dark away and with it, the creatures that hide in the darkness."

After having heard this, everyone is more than eager to stay in the camp for the night.

Quickly, everyone falls asleep.

*******************************

Opening her eyes, Angel stands face to face with the witch.

"What are you doing here?" she calls out, taking a few steps back.

"I need to show you something," the witch says. 

The dream shifts and shows Angel and Peter kissing.

"What is this?" Angel asks, horrified but fascinated.

"Just listen to what I have to say and all will become clear," the witch says, and again the dream shifts.

Now they are standing on top of a tree, its top made out of a platform of leaves and twigs.

"What are we doing here?"

"Right now, you and Peter Pan are on what they call a crossroad. What you will do next, will determine the rest of your lives. There is a reason I bound you and Peter together, you are the one that can set his soul free. You can do what no one else can, you can save him from a terrible fate. It's all in the prophecy."

"Not again!" Angel screams. "I can't do this, this prophecy stuff. It almost destroyed me last time, I'm not going through this again."

"You have to. It's your destiny," the witch says. "If you don't, he'll be lost forever."

"No!"

*******************************

"No!" Angel screams as she jumps up. As her vision clears, she sees everyone sitting around her. "What's going on guys?" she asks as innocently as she can.

"What's going on? You were screaming and turning and freaking out basically, and you ask what's going on?" Emma asks.

"What were you dreaming about?" Snow asks.

"It was nothing, really."

"Angel, didn't you once tell me that you never dream and that if you dream that you're having a vision?" Snow asks.

"First of all, I told you under the impression that you'd keep it to yourself. Second of all, it's true that I only have visions, I never dream. The only thing is that all my visions are bad so I always try to sleep as little as possible just in case I have a vision."

"You have to tell us what the vision was about, Angel," Emma says, grabbing her arm.

"It was nothing really. It doesn't concern you."

"Just tell us already," Emma says, lightly squeezing Angel's arm.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you." Angel thinks for a moment. "It was rather confusing actually. I think I saw my friend Owen. He… he was in trouble. But that can't be true because he's dead, so it couldn't have been him. Still, I'm convinced that my vision was about him and-"

"I think we've heard enough," Hook says, cutting Angel off.

_ 'Phew, luckily I had this vision a few nights ago so I didn't have to make something up,' _ Angel thinks to herself, not at all happy she had to lie to her friends again. ' _ This better not become a habit.' _

Angel looks up at the sky seeing that the sun is already shining. "I think it's time to go find Neal."

Picking up their weapons, everyone gets ready to find Neal. When they are all done and ready to go they start following the trail Snow found that night. They walk for a long while, going deeper and deeper into the jungle.

Angel walks over to Hook. "You know where this will probably lead us, right?"

"I don't know what you mean," he answers.

"Yes, you do. And you're afraid of it too, I can feel it."

"How can you possibly know how I feel?"

"It's something I've always been able to do. To feel others' feelings."

"What kind of gift is that?"

"I wouldn't call it a gift. It can be awful sometimes. To feel someone else's pain nearly kills me sometimes. I've been searching for a way to get rid of this power but I can't find anything."

Up ahead, Snow shouts, "This is it. This is where they keep Neal."

As they emerge from the jungle they stand before a cave.

"Where are we?" Emma asks.

"It's like I feared," Angel says. "They're keeping Neal in the echo cave."

"If the cave is some sort of prison, why aren't there any guards here?" David asks, looking around.

"Because they don't need to," Hook answers. "No one can escape the echo cave. The only way to rescue someone from inside is to reveal a secret." 

"A secret? That's all?" Snow asks.

"Yes, but it's not just an 'I stole a cookie when I was five'- kind of secret. You have to tell your deepest, darkest secret," Angel says.

"The echo cave got its name from an old saying, 'the deeper the lie, the more truth in the echo'," Hook adds. "Only the deepest secrets can set someone free from this prison. The cave demands we reveal our most hidden truths, something we've never told anyone."

"Even if we spill our guts how do we know Neal's still alive in there?" Emma asks.

"There's only one way to find out."


	21. Chapter 21

Walking into the cave, everyone is on edge. 

"What can we expect when we get to Neal?" Emma asks.

"It depends," Hook says. "The cave seems to be different every time one enters, so I can't say for sure what lies ahead."

"I guess we just make do with what we do know," Angel says.

"Which is?"

"Whatever is going to be revealed today, we can't ever let it come between us, for if it does, Peter wins."

"I've been wanting to ask you for a while now, why do you call Pan Peter?" Emma asks.

"I'm not a last name kind of girl. When I say the first name of a person I know that I'm talking about a living, breathing person, not just someone I don't know."

"This is it," Snow calls from somewhere in front of them. They walk into a huge cave with a pillar right in the middle of a deep pit. On the pillar stands a cage, with what seems like a person inside it. Suddenly, it starts to move, trying to see what's going on.

"Emma," the person screams, as he sees everyone.

"Neal," she whispers.

"That's easily a hundred feet across," Snow says.

"We can try to get some sort of rope," David suggests, but after another look around the cave he says, "there's nowhere to attach it to."

"What now?" Emma asks.

"Now, we do what I already told you needs to be done," Hook says. "We have to tell our secrets. So, who wants to kick things off?"

"So what? Someone tells their secret and magically flies to the other side or something?" Emma says, not believing any of it.

"If it was that easy, I would have just flown to him myself," Angel answers. "But before you ask, if I do that I will  _ for sure _ end up on the bottom of this cave and I rather like to live."

"How do you know this will even work?" David asks. "It can as well be one of Pan's tricks."

"There's only one way to find out for sure," Hook says, taking a big breath. "I guess I'm first then."

He starts talking but Angel doesn't listen.  _ 'It's time. This isn't a test for them, it's a test for me. He wants them to lose trust in me. He wants me to be alone.'  _ Only as a hand lands on her shoulder does she realize that the others have already told their secrets.

"It's your turn," Emma says.

Looking at the unfinished path that has been created Angel says the only thing that pops into her mind. "Can't you go first?"

Emma gives Angel a stern look. "Angel, you have to tell us your secret, no matter how awful or horrific. We won't hold it against you."

"I'm afraid that's going to turn out to be a lie," Angel says before stepping forward. "Okay, first of all, you have to know that no matter what I'm going to tell you I love you all very much and I would gladly give my life for every single one of you if I had to."

"We know," Snow says. "Now can you please get it over with?"

Slowly, Angel starts telling them about the curse and about what that means for her and Peter. After having told this, she patiently waits for the path to grow, but it doesn't.

"Phew, you almost had us there for a moment," Hook says. "Linked to Pan, what a joke."

Looking at Angel's face Emma asks, "you were joking right?"

"I wish," Angel says, a bad feeling creeping up on her. "I told you the absolute truth. My darkest secret."

The cave starts rumbling, but nothing happens except a few rocks that fall from the ceiling.

"Maybe you shouldn't lie in this cave, lass," Hook says. "Think deep, what is your deepest, darkest secret, something you've never told anyone."

"I-I don't know."

"Maybe you haven't told yourself," Emma says. 

Then it hits Angel. "There's one thing. But it can't be, it can't be true."

"Tell us anyway," Emma insists.

"I-I think I'm in love with Peter Pan," Angel says while she has to hold back tears that suddenly threaten to fall. 

The cave starts rumbling again and now the path attaches itself to the platform where they stand. Everyone looks at Angel with surprise written all over their faces. Turning back, Angel runs away.

She doesn't stop running until she's out of the cave.

"What did you think of my gift?" she hears a familiar voice say.

She looks up and stares straight into the face of Peter. 

_ 'You know the tale, now tell him,' _ the witch says inside her head. She just shakes her head, trying to block the voice.

"What are you calling a gift?" Angel asks, wiping her eyes where a few stubborn tears have been able to go past her iron defense.

"I showed you where to find Neal, didn't I? I could've just kept him, but instead, I gave him to you."

"You didn't  _ give _ him to us. You made sure they wouldn't trust me, using him as just another way to do it. And congratulations, because you have succeeded, after this they would be crazy to trust me."

Peter smiles his cocky smile. "That's all I wanted to know." He turns around, but before he walks away he looks over his shoulder and asks, "By the way, what  _ was _ your biggest secret?"

"Meet me tonight at the tree and maybe I'll tell you. Now go away before the others come back  _ with _ Neal."

Peter just smiles. "You really think that they are just going to forgive you?"

Angel walks towards him. "I don't, but you can be damn sure I'm going to try to earn their trust again."

They hear footsteps coming from the cave. Angel looks around. "They're coming, now g-" she looks back but Peter is already gone. Angel looks down smiling but immediately wipes the smile off her face.  _ 'I have to stop doing that.' _

As she looks up, she sees the others coming from the cave, Neal walking among them.

"Good to see you're okay," Angel says in a weak voice.

"Thanks," Neal says. "So, it's true then. You work for Pan."

"Wow, hold your horses, I don't work for him. I'm bonded to him, that much is true, but I don't like it, and I sure as hell don't work for him."

"What are we going to do now?" Snow asks.

"It's all up to Angel," Emma answers. Looking at Angel she says, "are you with  _ us _ , or are you with Pan?"

Angel looks at everyone, a sad look on her face. "I told you in the cave. There is nothing I wouldn't do for my friends and Peter isn't one of them. As far as I'm concerned all that is important is that we save Henry, nothing more, nothing less."

"So if you have to, would you use your powers against Pan?" David asks.

"I'm afraid, I can't. The curse enables us to use magic against each other. I can't harm him, just as he can't harm me."

"And what if we need magical backup against the Lost Boys trying to get Henry back?" Emma adds.

"I'm afraid I can't help with that either. You see, I've made a deal with Peter. As long as I don't  _ magically _ help you get Henry back, he won't hurt or kill my friend."

"What do you mean?" Snow asks, a concerned look on her face.

"Peter holds one of my best friends captive. If I do anything to magically aid you, he'll kill her," Angel says, tears threatening to fall again.

"Let's talk this through at your camp. We can figure out how to help your friend while we figure out a plan to get Henry back," Neal says.

"Talking about that, we've got your star map," Hook says. "So do you know how to get off this island?"

"If we can get Henry, I can get us home," Neal answers.

"That settles it then. Let's get Tinker Bell and get the boy home."


	22. Chapter 22

In silence, they walk back to the camp. Though no one speaks, they all feel the tension. Sooner than Angel would have liked, they arrive back at the camp.

Angel gestures for Emma to light a fire and after a few tries, she succeeds. Together, they sit down around it.

"Now all we need is a plan for the way out," Angel says. "Neal, why don't you tell us how you're planning on getting everyone off Neverland."

"We need two things to get out of here. We already have the first one which is that coconut," Neal says, pointing at the star map. "We're going to use it to capture Pan's shadow."

Before he can continue, Emma starts talking. "Why do we need Pan's shadow?"

"It's the only way off this island," Neal answers.

"But we thought you could navigate the stars?" David butts in.

"I can, but I can't fly, and either way it would be too heavy to carry everyone."

"So that's what you need the shadow for," Snow deducts.

"How are we going to get Pan's shadow? We can't even get close to Pan unless he wants to. Getting to his shadow would be a suicide mission," Emma says, thinking out loud.

"Then it's a good thing that his shadow isn't usually by his side," Angel says, a grim expression on her face. "His shadow has a will of its own and it can function separate from Peter. It doesn't have to be near Peter to know what he wants and expects of it."

"All we have to do to get the shadow is know where to look for it, and I happen to know where to look," Neal says.

"So you and I will go get the shadow," Emma says.

"I will come with you," Hook quickly says. Angel sighs and rolls her eyes, earning an evil stare from Hook. "It's not going to be easy, so you can use all the help you can get."

"What is this other thing we need?" Angel asks, getting back to the task at hand.

"We need something to attach the shadow to when we catch him," Neal says.

"I can work something out," Angel says. "I think the best thing to do is to get back to the ship and work on something there, so that's what I will do."

"We will give Tinker Bell a heads up and see if she can make good on her promise to get us to Pan's camp," David says.

"Well, I guess that we all know what to do," Emma says. "Let's meet back at Tink's as quickly as possible. Then all we have to do is get Henry and get the hell back to Storybrooke."

As the others go off in different directions, Angel changes into a fairy and flies away.  _ 'I hope we made the right choice trusting you,' _ Emma thinks as she walks into the jungle with Neal on one side of her and Hook on the other.

As Angel flies to the tree, she starts thinking out loud. "I'm only going to make a little detour. It will only take a second to tell Peter what I have to say, then I'll go to the ship. I know that everything we need is on it."

As she arrives at the tree, Peter is already there.

"Let's make this quick, shall we. I have other things to take care of," he says impatiently. 

"Whatever you say, I have other things to take care of as well," Angel says, landing only a few feet in front of Peter. "I just had to tell you something and I didn't want to wait until it was too late."

"Well, don't let me keep you from telling."

Angel takes a breath, trying to calm herself down. Slowly, she starts talking. "I had a vision last night. I know it's almost impossible-," she says when she sees he's going to object. "-But it's true. I had a vision of that witch that cursed us. And when she was talking, I somehow remembered a story I heard long ago when I was still a child. I'm convinced she was the one who told me that story and I'm also convinced that it's about us."

"What do you mean?"

"Just listen to the story and maybe you will understand, as well as know my secret." 

"Whatever," Peter says, but his eyes sparkle with curiosity. 

"Once upon a time there was a boy who never aged-"

"I already know this story and it's wrong," Peter interrupted.

"Just listen," Angel says, losing her patience. "To get this way he let go of his heart and soul, losing them completely through the course of a century or two. Luckily for the boy, someone watched over his heart and soul, someone who believed that the boy could become whole once more if he just had the perfect person to show him how. She searched for a girl whose heart was filled with Light, but whose soul had touched and played with Darkness. The search was long but in the end, a perfect candidate was born. She inherited the boy's heart and soul, which together with her own, gave her the power to feel other people's feelings. Through the course of almost two decades, she was formed to be just what the boy needed. All it took for them to find each other was a little push from his personal angel. At first, they couldn't stand one another but in time they started to warm up to each other, the girl feeling something she'd never felt so strong, love. In time she worked up enough strength to tell him the truth. Though he didn't feel the same, he told her something, 'if I had to choose between a life without any worries or you, I'd choose you'. As he said that something happened, some invisible power tore something from the girl's chest and put it in his, neither of them knew it then, but his heart and soul were brought back to him. Soon, the boy began to change, he started to feel. Even though she would have to leave her family and friends behind, the girl stayed with the boy and some say that they are still out there somewhere just as old as they were when they met."

After Angel finishes the story, Peter stays quiet for a while. As he finally gets out of his trance, he says, "What does that have to do with us?"

"Don't you see it? It's about us. I mean, a boy who never aged; a girl with Light in her heart but Darkness in her soul; even that lady who gave a 'push', everything is the same."

Peter smirks. "So you love me?"

Angel ignores the question and walks closer to him. "Come on, Peter, don't act so stupid. You are supposed to know everything on this island, so why not this?" Angel asks as she puts her lips on his. A burning feeling lights her up from the inside, but it's a good feeling, it's a feeling that tells her that she's doing the right thing.

Before he even realizes what happened, Angel pulls back and flies away. "Don't you have other things to do?" she calls out as she flies off to Hook's ship.


	23. Chapter 23

Flying towards Hook's ship, Angel keeps touching her lips. That power surge she felt was something she'd never felt before, it made her feel like she could do anything.

Angel is so deep in thoughts that she almost flies past the ship without even noticing. She only realizes she's at her destination as she flies into the pirate flag waving in the wind.

"Crap," she curses as she tries to get out of the flag. When she finally frees herself, she flies down onto the deck. "First things first," she says out loud. "The ship has to be repaired."

In only fifteen minutes, she circles the whole ship and repairs every dent and hole. After this, she stands on the deck again looking up at the mainsail.

_ 'There has to be a way to get the shadow trapped inside it.' _

After a long time, thinking Angel remembers a spell she heard when she was little that can suck certain things in objects. All she has to do is make a simple potion and pour that over the mainsail. Quickly, she gets to work. Luckily for her, she doesn't need any special ingredients. As she works on her potion, a sharp pain fills up her chest and she screams out in pain.

The pain stays for a few minutes but as it leaves her body she collapses, a dull feeling in her chest.

' _ What was that?' _

It takes some time before Angel gets up and finishes the potion, and it takes even more time before Angel pours it over the sail. As she pours the potion, the sail starts to glow.

Angel mumbles an incantation until the whole potion is spilled on the sail and tentatively she touches it to see if the magic works as needed. As she touches the sail, Angel feels a wave of energy engulf her, but it pulls away just as quickly.

Standing on the deck, Angel looks proudly at her handiwork. "Perfect. Now let's go see if the others are done yet." She says as she flies away.

As she arrives at Tink's hideout, the others are already there.

She just hears Hook say, "Are you finally ready to do your part, Tink?"

"Not leaving without me, are ya?" Angel says as she lands and turns back to her human form.

"Did you find a way to contain the shadow?" Neal asks her, without answering her question.

"If you have the shadow, I can contain it."

"Then let's go," Tink says, as she walks away and everyone starts to follow.

They walk for a long time, only stopping a few times to drink and eat something. 

Angel walks close to Tink, trying to stay away from the others.

"They know, don't they?" Tink asks suddenly.

Angel smiles faintly. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well for one, you almost look afraid they'd send you away, and if you hadn't shown up when you did, I think there had been a chance that they wouldn't have waited for you to come."

Angel sighs. "I've been so stupid. I really should've talked to them earlier, but that's easy to say afterward."

Suddenly, David walks alongside them. "I may not be the one to talk but a secret like yours should have come to the surface a long time ago."

Before Angel can say anything, he says, "how long before we reach Pan's camp?"

"We're not too far from it. Can't be more than ten minutes," Tink answers.

Suddenly, they hear someone approaching. Quickly, everyone takes out a sword or other sort of weapon as they wait to see who comes out of the bushes. Suddenly, Regina walks towards them with Rumple close behind her. 

"If this is your version of a rescue party, we got here just in time," Regina says.

Slowly, everyone sheaths their sword. 

"What are you doing here?" Snow asks.

"The same thing you are, but we have a chance to succeed," Regina answers, pointing at the little box Rumple is holding.

"What's that?" Angel asks.

"Pandora's box. It can contain the strongest of all evil."

"And you think it can hold Peter?" Angel asks.

Quietly, Neal whispers, "you didn't say my father was with her."

"You mean, your father is the Dark One?" Tink asks.

"Yes he is, but he won't get near Henry." 

"Why not?" Angel asks.

"There's a prophecy that says that Henry will be his undoing."

Regina steps away from Rumple and looks at him with a look of disgust on her face. "You came here to kill my son?! That's why you didn't want to find Neal before we got Henry back. You wanted to have him to yourself."

"Wait a minute," Angel says. "Before we draw any conclusions, maybe we should listen to what he has to say."

"Why are you so protective of him?" Regina asks bitterly.

"Because I know what it's like to be labeled the bad guy just because of what some prophecy says," Angel says, looking at the rest of the group out of the corner of her eye.

"Everything I have done so far was to protect Henry," Rumple says. "I want to rescue him from Pan, just as much as you do."

"It all makes sense," Emma says, taking out her sword again. "You left before we even reached the shore."

All around, there is the sound of swords being pulled from their sheaths.

"To beat us to it," David says.

"And have the boy all to yourself," Hook adds.

"You're making a big mistake," Rumple says, trying to defend himself. "I don't care if the boy will be my undoing. He's my grandson, I'd never hurt him."

"That's totally how you would handle something like this," Regina says sarcastically.

"Just listen to me. Without me, you have no chance of succeeding. I'm the most powerful amongst us."

"Don't be so sure about that," Hook says. "Angel is not a lass to be underestimated."

Angel smiles. "Thanks, Hook, but he's right. With this kind of magic," Angel says, pointing at the box. "-Rumple  _ is _ the strongest."

"That's just the reason why we can't trust him," Neal says.

"If I had my dagger I would give it to you, but I don't have it," Rumple says, suddenly distraught.

"Then give me Pandora's box. I don't have to trust you if I have something to stop you," Neal says.

Clearly struggling, Rumple hands the box over. "If you so much as lift a finger to perform magic, you are going to spend an eternity in this box," Neal says, looking his father in the eye.

"We've been standing here for long enough, let's go," Emma says and quickly they start walking again.


	24. Chapter 24

As they walk further into the jungle, closer and closer to Pan's camp, everyone stays away from Rumple as much as possible. Everyone except Angel.

"Are you okay?" she asks as she walks side by side with him.

Rumple just looks at her like she said something totally ridiculous. "Why did you stand up for me back there? I never did anything for you, so why would you do anything to help me?"

"It's actually quite simple. Kindness is one of the only things I can use to feel like I  _ can _ make my own decisions. It's the only thing Peter can't control."

"What do you mean?"

Angel quickly explains about her and Peter, while color seems to drain from Rumple's face.

"Did-did Pan ever tell you anything about his life before Neverland?"

"Not that I know of-" Angel says, but before she can continue Rumple walks away.

From somewhere in front of her, she hears him say, "Unless there's another cure for David."

She keeps walking until she's caught up with the rest. They are just talking about how they're going to get into the camp.

"Are you good with Pan patrol?" Emma asks Neal, who nods.

She then turns to Angel. "You can take care of the Lost Boys?"

"Sure," Angel answers.

"Mind if I take this?" Rumple says as he takes Hook's sword. "I won't use my magic, but I won't walk in with nothing but my good looks."

"I, on the other hand-" Hook starts.

Angel reaches behind her taking her long sword out of its sheath. "Why don't you take this?" she says with a smile. 

"Thanks, love," he says after a small hesitation. 

"Now let's get Henry," Emma says and everyone starts walking.

As they reach the camp they stop and watch the Lost Boys go about their business.

"Can I at least use magic on these boys?" Rumple asks.

"No," Angel and Neal say at the same time.

"Those boys are just as trapped here as you and me," Angel says. "Just let me handle this. They'll listen to me."

But before Angel can walk into camp, Regina waves her hand and all the boys fall asleep. Quickly, everyone steps out in the open, weapons ready to attack Pan but he's nowhere to be seen. Angel turns to Regina. "Why'd you do that to the boys? I told you I could handle them."

"Where's Pan?" Emma asks, oblivious to Angel.

"Don't know, but he has to be here somewhere."

"Where's Henry? Henry! Henry, do you hear me?!" Emma yells.

"Help," a voice calls out from behind some bushes.

They quickly run towards the voice and find a cage, a girl trapped inside it. 

"You, you're an adult," the girl says, looking up at them all in shock.

Emma leans down. "I'm Emma and I'm looking for my son."

As Neal reaches the cage, he stops in his tracks. "Wendy, is that you?"

"Do I know you?" the girl asks him.

"It's me, Baelfire."

The girl's eyes widen and with a trembling voice she says, "Bae, is that you?"

"Do you know each other?" Emma asks as Neal starts cutting the vines securing the cage.

"Yes. Yes, we do."

As soon as the cage opens, Wendy jumps out, hugging Neal. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"What are you doing here?" Neal asks.

"I came back to- to save you," she stutters. 

"You did that for me?" Neal asks.

"Sorry to disturb your reunion," Angel interrupts them. "Wendy, do you know if there is another girl here?"

Wendy points up into the trees where another cage hangs. Angel raises her hands and aims them at the cage, slowly lowering it to the ground. Inside is an unconscious girl. With a flick of her wrist, the cage opens and soon the girl is out. Her blond curls are in a bunch and her skin is red from crying.

Angel looks down at her, a haunted look on her face. "Are you okay, Angel?" Snow asks. "Who is this?" 

"This is my friend, the one I told you about."

A moan signals that Fleur wakes up. Angel falls to her knees and lightly shakes her. "Fleur, are you okay? Please tell me you're okay."

Fleur moans again. "Just a few more minutes."

Angel can't help but smile. "I'm sorry, sweets, we don't have time for a few more minutes."

Slowly, Fleur opens her eyes. As she sees Angel, she sits up quickly. "Angel? What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you of course, well you and Henry that is."

Fleur smiles. "I knew you wouldn't give up that easily."

"Can you stand?" Angel asks, extending her hand, which Fleur grabs firmly. Together, they stand up and walk to the others who have gathered in the camp.

"Pan told Henry that he needs his heart to save magic," Wendy says as they get to the others. "But he's lying, he needs it to save himself."

"What do you mean?" Rumple asks.

"Peter is dying," Angel says. "He has been for some time now."

"He needs the heart of the truest believer to absorb all the magic in Neverland," Wendy continues. "When he does that, he'll be unstoppable."

"What will happen to Henry?" Snow asks.

"It's like a trade," Angel says. "One life for the other. If Peter lives, Henry will die. Just-just like me."

"How can we stop him?" David asks.

"Pan took Henry to Skull Rock. If you want to save him, you have to be fast. We haven't got much time."

"It's better if I stay behind with the boys," Angel says.

"We'll stay with you," David says. 

"If you get Henry home, tell him we love him," Snow tells Emma.

"You can tell him yourself," Emma tells her. "Gold can cure you back in Storybrooke, you just have to get some more water from Deadman’s Peak."

"I'll stay here with the lass and Tink," Hook says. "We'll meet back at the Jolly Roger when you have the boy."

Soon, everyone is off to do their part of the plan.


	25. Chapter 25

As Hook and Tink sit near the campfire, quietly talking to each other, Angel takes care of the Lost Boys together with Fleur and Wendy. While Wendy and Fleur put the Boys in more comfortable positions, Angel binds their hands.

"Why are we doing this?" Fleur asks. "You once told me that these Boys weren't to blame for anything happening here, so why do this now?"

"I know," Angel says, looking miserable. "But the others don't see it that way, they seem to think that the Boys enjoy what they do. The thing is, just because some things are enjoyable doesn't mean that they enjoy everything. They hate most of the orders they get."

"Are you sure they do?" Wendy asks. "Because the one I know seems to love it very much, at least up until some time ago."

Angel laughs a little at that. "You must be talking about Felix. He really is a handful, isn't he?" They all laugh now. "To be honest, after Felix tried and failed to kill me I put a spell on him, which enables him to hurt or kill anyone ever again. As far as I know, he never told anyone about that, not even Peter."

The other girls look at her in astonishment. 

"You really cursed someone?" Fleur asks.

"You know I'm not as good as some people might think," Angel says with a little shrug. "Look, I'm not really proud of it, but I don't like looking over my shoulder the whole time, waiting for the next time he tries to attack me. I did the only thing I thought possible."

As they talk, it starts getting darker. Looking at the sky, they suddenly see the moon darken.

"What the-," Fleur says.

"It's an eclipse," Wendy tells her.

"That can't be," Angel says. "Such things never happen in Neverland."

"It does now, apparently," Fleur says.

"Very funny, F, but seriously this can only be done by some powerful magic."

"What's going on?" a small voice asks.

The three girls turn around to see one of the Boys, Lorenzo, waking up.

"Good night, sunshine," Angel says, smiling at the boy that has been like a little brother to her for the last year.

"Angel is that you?" Lorenzo asks, his voice heavy with sleep. "What are you doing here? And who tied us up?"

"She did," Felix says, now waking up too. "She's not as nice as she makes you believe."

By now, most Boys are awake and Hook and Tink, who noticed the commotion, come to stand near the three girls. 

"I don't want to do this, you guys, believe me," Angel says. "But my friends want to be sure you won't try to hurt them. They don't believe in you as I do."

"Don't you see she's trying to win you over with sweet words?" Felix spits at the other Boys.

Suddenly, Angel feels a sharp pain in her chest. "No," she whispers, sitting down on a rock before she falls down.

"What's wrong?" Fleur asks, running towards her.

"Henry, he took out his own heart. I felt it. If he gives it to Peter-"

"We're all doomed," Tink finishes for her.

"I really hope the others know what they're doing," Wendy says.

"They do," Hook says, sounding more confident than he feels. 

A few minutes go by where no one knows what to do, even the Boys are silent, waiting for whatever comes next.

Suddenly, Angel starts screaming. Her chest feels like it's on fire and she can feel her life slipping away. She screams until she's out of breath and after breathing in, she whispers, "It's over, they were too late."

For a moment, the whole island seems to suck in a breath, but then Felix starts laughing. "You've lost. Didn't you know, Pan never fails."

Through clenched teeth, Angel says, "Oh shut up, Felix."

At that moment, Snow and David come back into the camp. As soon as they see Angel, they run towards her. "What's going on?" Snow asks.

"Peter won, I lost," Angel says without any emotion in her voice.

"What does that mean?" David asks.

"It means that Peter has Henry's heart, which means that he's immortal now. That means that I'll die."

"What do you mean?" One of the Boys, Dylan, asks. 

"Peter never told you the whole story, did he?" Angel asks him in return. "Well long story short, we were cursed and only one of us can survive, so he lives, I die." Another rush of pain, this time in her arm, shuts Angel up.

Not soon after she tells this, the others arrive back with Henry's body.

"We were too late," Neal says slowly.

Angel stands up, leaning heavily on Fleur. "We've noticed."

"What's going on with you?" Emma asks.

"Let's just say that Henry isn't the only one dying."

"Do you know where Pan is?" Regina asks her. 

"I'm sorry, I don't and I'm pretty sure he won't answer my calls now he doesn't need me anymore."

Regina stands up abruptly and walks towards Felix. "Where is he?"

Felix just smiles. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Just as Regina is about to rip his heart out, Emma stops her. "Regina stop. This isn't the way. Look at these kids, they've been to hell and back. We have to do this another way."

Angel holds her hand out to Regina. "Give me Devon's heart, Regina. It's time he gets it back."

Reluctantly, Regina hands her the satchel holding Devon's heart. As Angel grabs it, she quickly makes her way over to Devon and pushes his heart back where it belongs, while the others are talking to all the Boys.

She hears Emma raise her voice so everyone hears her. "Guys, there is something I want to talk to you about. I know you're loyal to Pan, but you are making a mistake. Some time ago I was like you, an orphan. I didn't think I would ever be with anyone who loved me, but I found my family, and only today I was reminded that I'm not alone, ever. If something like that could happen to me, it can happen to you too."

"Pan is the only family we need," Felix butts in.

"No, he's not, Felix," Angel says, standing next to Emma. "Boys, I've told you about my life many times, and though I don't have a family I've never felt alone any second of it. All because of my friends, friends like you. You can have that too, I know some of you know what I'm talking about, but you have to help us."

"Don't listen to them," Felix says again. "Pan is our friend and family, he's all we need."

"Family doesn't do what he did to you," Emma says. "He made you do things you didn't want to do. He even made Henry give up his  _ heart _ to get what he wants."

"To save the island," one of the youngest boys says.

"No, Joey, he did that to save himself," Angel tells him.

"Lies! Pan cares about us," Felix says, raising his voice.

"No, he doesn't, he never did," Emma says. "But we do, we can take you with us, we can take you home. All you have to do is help us."

"Just leave now you're still living and well," Felix says. "That's all the help you get."

"Where. Is. Pan?" Emma asks him.

"Not. Telling," Felix answers.

Angel walks towards Lorenzo and, dropping to her knees, asks, "Please help us. Where is Peter?"

"Can you really bring us home?" he asks.

"Yes, we can. I can finally make good on my promise," Angel answers smiling through the pain.

The Boys look at each other for a moment before coming to a decision. "He's at his thinking tree."

"Don't!" Felix shouts, but it's too late.

"What is that?" Emma asks.

"It's his place to go if he feels like being alone," Angel answers, while she winks at the Boys, signaling they did the good thing. "I know how to get there, I can get us there."

"With magic?" Emma asks. "I thought you made a deal that you couldn't use magic to help us."

"She did," Fleur says. "She promised to not use magic to  _ find _ Henry. You've found him already, now you just have to save him."

"Let's go then," Neal says.

"You have to stay here. Once we have his heart we need to hurry. That means we need your help here," Emma says.

"What do we need to do?" David asks. 

"Gather the Boys and get them to the Jolly Roger," Angel says, clearly enjoying it. "And by the way, when you release the Shadow on the Jolly Roger make sure you do it near the mainsail, I put a spell on it and it will absorb the Shadow."

Emma turns to Angel. "Okay. Angel, are you ready to take Regina and me-"

"And me," Snow butts in. "I may be stuck here so if you think I won't spend the last few moments with my daughter, you're crazy."

Emma nods before focusing her attention on Angel again. "Do you think you can handle that?"

"Sure," is all she says.

"Let's go then," Regina says. "Let's get our son's heart back."


	26. Chapter 26

"You have to touch me," Angel tells Emma, Regina, and Snow. "When I transport someone else, I have to touch them otherwise it won't work."

She grabs Emma and Regina's hands as Snow puts her hand on her shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"Let's get my son," Regina says determinedly.

"Okay, I hope this works," Angel whispers to herself. She pictures Peter's thinking tree in front of her, thinking of the time she followed Peter to it, of how angry he was but also how he made peace with it and explained her all about the tree and its abilities. She calls on her magic to take them there and, as always, it responds instantly. 

Too soon, Angel feels her magic draining, and quickly she pulls away again. As she opens her eyes, they are standing in the middle of the jungle.

"Where are we?" Regina asks.

"We're not far now," Angel answers.

"What do you mean 'we're not far'? I thought you could bring us directly at this thinking tree," Regina asks angrily.

"I could've if I wasn't so busy trying to stay alive long enough to help save Henry," Angel snaps, shutting Regina up.

"So it's true, you're dying?" Emma asks slowly.

Angel's shoulders slump a little. "Yeah. But that doesn't matter now, all that matters now is that we save Henry." Determined, Angel starts walking.

"What's this thinking tree actually?" Snow asks her while walking, trying to change the subject.

"Well, it has always been known as Peter's thinking tree. He always goes there to, well, think basically, or just to be alone, like I already told you. The truth is, and not many people know this, Peter Pan was born at that tree." 

"He was  _ born _ in Neverland?" Emma asks.

"Not the way you think, Emma. Before Peter was Peter Pan he was someone else, I don't know who or anything else about his life before Peter Pan, but I know he has a past life that had nothing to do with Neverland."

"I bet it has something to do with Rumplestiltskin," Regina says.

Angel puts a finger to her lips.  _ "Almost there," _ she mouths, pointing in front of her. 

Regina walks past her and they all start walking again.

"Look," Regina says suddenly. They stand still and look in front of them where Pandora's box stands.

Regina starts walking towards it but Angel stops her. "It's a trap."

"I know, but we have to go on. For Henry."

Angel slowly nods. "For Henry."

They start walking towards the box, but not before Emma and Angel take out their swords.

As they stand around the box, Snow starts walking towards it.

"Don't," Regina says. "Pan will be back for it."

"I know," Snow says. "But it's David's only hope." She reaches for the box but suddenly vines lurch forward, pulling her back and binding her to the thinking tree. Before the others can do anything, they are attacked by vines too, and not soon after the four of them stand bound to the tree.

From behind it, Peter appears. He walks towards the four women and smirks. "You still at it? Don't you know, Peter Pan never fails."

"First time for everything," Angel says.

Peter tears his gaze from Emma to look at Angel. "I thought you said I could have anything I wanted? Aren't you happy for me?"

"I said you could have everything you wanted, but I didn't mean someone else's heart."

Peter turns back to Emma. "If you're looking to see Henry again, I have to disappoint you. There is only one place where you'll be reunited, in death."

At this point, they all start wiggling to get away from the vines but the more they struggle, the tighter the vines get around their bodies.

"Having trouble moving?" Peter asks, still smirking. "Not surprising, given where you are."

"What do you mean?" Emma asks.

"You see, what's hastening your demise is your regret," Peter answers.

"How could I forget," Angel says quietly, mentally slapping herself in the face.

"This tree is a site of a very important event for me. I abandoned my son here," Peter continues.

"You have a son?" Regina asks.

"You wouldn't say with me looking like this right," Peter answers.

"If you have a child you must regret losing him too," Emma thinks out loud.

"I really don't," Peter tells her. "It's the opposite, really. I put him in a box." Peter says picking up Pandora's Box, holding Rumple. "This way, I don't lose him again."

"Rumplestiltskin is your son?" Regina asks.

"He is," Peter says.

"That's why he acted so strange when I told him my secret," Angel says.

"But how can he be your son?" Snow asks. "You're-"

"Much younger than him?" Peter finishes for her. "Not really no. Just like you and your daughter."

"You're a fraud," Regina suddenly tells him. "You can't hurt us. Your power is weakened. You can't do anything."

"That's right," Peter admits. "But that's the reason that I'm here. This tree will keep me safe until my power is restored. And then, no one can stop me. Then I get to have some real fun."

"There has to be another way," Emma says.

"There isn't," Peter says before Angel can say anything. "This tree attacks the regret inside people and you have plenty."

As he takes a swing at Snow and Emma, Regina and Angel try hard to get the vines to break.

"Can't you shut up," Regina sneers when she finally gets a bit of friction between her and the vines.

"The famous last words of the Evil Queen. You must have to regret the most out of everyone," Peter taunts.

"You're right," Regina tells him. "I've done a lot of evil things in my life and I should go mad with regret but I don't." And as she says this she snaps the vines holding everyone in place and walks towards Peter. "All because it led me to my son." And with that, she takes Henry's heart out of Peter's chest, who falls to the ground at the same moment Angel does. 

As Peter falls to the ground he lets go of Pandora's box and Regina quickly picks it up, before Peter gets his hands on it again.

"Now, let's go save Henry," she says smiling.


	27. Chapter 27

"Are you okay?" Snow asks Angel as she helps her up. "Do you think you can transport us back to Hook's ship?"

"I think so," Angel answers.

"You have to be sure," Regina tells her. "We have to be quick. We have to give Henry his heart back."

Angel takes a deep breath and searches deep inside her, reaching out to her magic. As she does, she smiles and says, "I'm sure I can get us back, but we'll have to go a little bit further into the jungle."

As they walk into the jungle, leaving Peter behind, Angel hears him in her head. 

_ 'This ain't over until I get that heart.' _

Angel swallows the lump forming in her throat and answers.  _ 'It's over when I say it's over and it  _ **_is_ ** _ over.' _

They walk further into the jungle until Angel no longer feels Peter's presence. She turns around and tells the others, "this is far enough. I can take us back from here."

She grabs Emma and Regina's hands again and, as she feels Snow putting a hand on her shoulder, she thinks about Hook's ship, the Jolly Roger. She closes her eyes and starts thinking about how they came to Neverland aboard the ship and about how they are going to get away from here with it. As she reaches inside to her magic, she freezes, or better yet, her magic freezes.

"Something's wrong," Angel says, opening her eyes. "My magic, it's not responding."

"How can that be?" Regina asks, letting go of Angel's hand.

"It must be Peter's doing," Angel tells her. "One last attempt to get Henry's heart. But I think I can get us back anyway. I just need to channel someone else's magic."

"You can try to use mine," Emma says immediately.

Angel nods. "That should work." She grabs Regina's hand again, but before she reaches for Emma's magic, she turns to the three women. "I do need your help navigating. Because I'm doing this with someone else's magic it won't respond to me as well as my own magic. I need you to think back to your memories of the Jolly Roger, I already did it once with Regina when I was looking for you. She can help you," Angel tells Emma and Snow. She takes a last deep breath before continuing. "Let's get this over with."

Angel closes her eyes and focuses on Emma's hand that's still holding hers. She imagines her mind running out from her arm through Emma's, right to the source of Emma's magic. Instantly, she feels the familiar pull of white magic wanting to break free but she restrains it and focuses on the others and their thoughts. She imagines that they all come together with her own thoughts and feelings about the Jolly Roger and sends them through her body to Emma's magic with the message,  _ bring us here _ .

The magic starts pulling harder and as she releases it, they are transported from the jungle to the middle of the Jolly Roger.

Immediately, Emma calls out, "Where's Henry?"

"He's here," Neal says from the back of the ship.

Quickly, the four of them run towards Neal, Regina holding Henry's heart to give it back to him as soon as she reaches him. As they reach him, they see his body lying on the floor. Angel and Snow stay a little behind as Regina and Emma run to him.

"Hold on, Henry," Regina whispers to him as she lifts his heart to his chest. "Everything's going to be okay." And with that, she shoves his heart back in its rightful place. 

As she pulls her hand back, Henry jumps up, alive and well. He quickly embraces both his moms.

"I'm sorry," Henry says with a small voice. "I just wanted to save magic."

"We know," Emma tells him. "It's okay. You're okay."

"I just wanted to be a hero," Henry says. "Like you."

"There's plenty of time for that later," David tells him.

"Henry," Angel says, kneeling in front of him. "You  **are** a hero, don't you know that? You don't need to save magic to prove that."

"We can talk about this later," Snow says softly. "The first thing that's going to happen now is that you are going to get some rest."

"Welcome back to the world of the living, young sir," Hook says with a smile. "Of course, we'll only have the best for our guest of honor, don't you think? Why don't you take the captain's quarters."

"Come on. I'll tuck you in," Regina tells him lovingly. 

Together, they leave the others and go below decks.

"Now, we have to get out of here before Peter gets here," Angel says. "We may have gotten Henry's heart back but we haven't defeated him yet. He'll find another way to get to Henry, I just know it."

"We won't let him," Emma says.

Angel smiles sadly. "But Emma, don't you know, Peter Pan never fails. Not if he can help it. He'll never stop until we find a way to stop him."

"What about my father?" Neal ask. "Can't he help?"

"Right," Angel says, remembering that Rumple's still being trapped inside Pandora's Box. "Can I have the Box?"

As Neal hands it to her, she slowly exhales and waves a hand over the Box, opening it.

A red mist comes out of it and soon Rumple appears. He looks around for a moment before his eyes settle on Neal.

"Bae," he whispers before he walks towards him and hugs him.

"Papa," Neal says happily before returning the hug.

"Where's Henry?" Rumple asks after they finish hugging.

"He's safe," Neal tells him.

All around her, people start hugging each other and Angel couldn't be happier about it.  _ 'Hugging means everything's going to be okay.' _ she thinks to herself.

Suddenly, Angel grunts. "Maybe Henry isn't as safe as we think," she says. "Peter's here. I can feel him."

"Where are they?" Rumple asks, taking Pandora's Box from her.

"Captain's quarters," is all she says before he leaves, Regina, who just reached them, following close behind.

Suddenly, a sharp pain forms in Angel's back, painful enough to bring her to her knees. "He-he's ripping out Henry's shadow. If he succeeds-" she cries out between grunts. The others form a circle around her, not sure what to do, and even a few Lost Boys have come to see what's happening.

Then, just as sudden as the pain came, it subsides. Angel exhales sharply and rolls to her back, smiling through the pain. "They were on time," she breathes before passing out.


End file.
